The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer

By Oscar Micheaux

Book Overview

Before Oscar Micheaux became celebrated as one of the earliest black filmmakers, he wrote a series of remarkable novels, the first one published in 1913 as The Conquest. Dedicated to Booker T. Washington, the black educator whose advocacy of assimilation was opposed by many of his race who were agitating for civil rights, The Conquest "is a true story of a negro who was discontented and of] the circumstances that were the outcome of that discontent."

The novel portrays the aspirations and struggles of a black homesteader named Oscar Devereaux. Born on a small farm near Cairo, Illinois, one of thirteen children, Devereaux leaves home to work in the Chicago stockyards and finally graduates to the job of porter in a Pullman railway car. He is personable, industrious, and frugal with a purpose. After saving $2,500, Devereaux goes to South Dakota and buys land. His object is not speculation for a quick profit but the cultivation of property he can call his own. He plows and sows and sweats, and by the age of twenty-five has reaped an estate worth $20,000. Success is sweet, self-respect sweeter. But if the calamities he is exposed to as a homesteader are severe, so are those brought on by marriage to the passive daughter of a dominating preacher.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803282095
• ISBN13: 9780803282094
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

oscar micheaux's finest book

Oscar Micheaux wrote seven novels. "The Conquest" was his first novel, and his best. If you can only purchase one book BY Oscar Micheaux, this is the best. Prof. Jayna Brown's introduction is outstanding. Her introduction is tough but fair. The introduction places Oscar Micheaux in his historical context, as a conservative Booker T. Washington follower. This is the first reprint of "The Conquest" that is not a facsimile copy of the original typeset edition from 1913. As a result, the lettering, font and artwork in the book are modern and elegant. The book itself is autobiographical. But the book is about more than the struggle of one African-American. The book is also about a whole variety of topics: homesteading, railroading, rural America, and the urban vs. rural divide. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in homesteading, railroading, farming,or American history. Micheaux was one of a kind. The same thing that was said about writer George Schuyler could also be said about Oscar Micheaux:"He woke up every morning to see which way the world was turning, and he took off in the opposite direction. He loved playing the role of the maverick."