The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 9, Number 1, Summer (June) 2020 | Page 26

The Saber
The term “miscegenation” did
not exist in the 1820s when Cooper was
writing some of the examined novels.
This term was invented in the 1860s,
around the same time that the discussion
about modern racism was initiated,
with an emphasis on “genetics” and “eugenics.”
The primary goal was to compensate
for the effects of the pending
Emancipation Proclamation. 12 Before
1863, the prominent terms for describing
interracial children were mongrelization
and amalgamation. Another
phrase that Cooper frequently used was
“intermingling of blood,” which is less
derogatory and more neutral. 13
Cooper had a more accepting attitude
toward the mixing of races concerning
whites and Native Americans.
In the Wish of Wept-Ton-Wish, Cooper
emphasized the similarities between the
settlers and the Narragansetts. This narrative
seems to suggest that the similarities
between the two races may prove
to be the basis for intermarriage and intermingling.
Metacom—in Wish—calls
Naramattah—the white captive who has
married Conanchet—“One who is neither
white nor red.” 14 However, Conanchet
later forsakes his wife and child,
and spoke about the necessity of keeping
the races separated in a poignant
speech. Conanchet compared different
species of trees and argued that mixing
two completely different types of trees
that were not meant to grow together
had angered the Great Spirit. Cooper
was not only opposed to intermarriage
outside of his texts but he also emphasized
this concept within the boundaries
of his fictional works through his
characters’ interactions with different
1