Provides an account of the government-sanctioned genocide of California Indians under United States rule. Between 1846 and 1873, California's Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Madley uncovers the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. He describes pre-contact California and precursors to the genocide before explaining how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence against California Indians. He narrates the rise of a state-sanctioned killing machine and the broad societal, judicial, and political support for genocide. Many participated: vigilantes, volunteer state militiamen, U.S. Army soldiers, U.S. congressmen, California governors, and others. Ultimately, the state and federal governments spent at least $1,700,000 on campaigns against California Indians. Besides evaluating government officials' culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated using the methods presented in this book. --Adapted from publisher description.

"This paperback edition does not contain the appendixes included in the hardcover edition. All appendixes can be found at yalebooks.com/american-genocide-appendix"-- Title page verso

California Indians before 1846 -- Prelude to genocide: March 1846-March 1848 -- Gold, immigrants, and killers from Oregon: March 1848-May 1850 -- Turning point: the killing campaigns of December 1849-May 1850 -- Legislating exclusion and vulnerability: 1846-1853 -- Rise of the killing machine: militias and vigilantes, April 1850-December 1854 -- Perfecting the killing machine: December 1854-March 1861 -- The Civil War in California and its aftermath: March 1861-1871.