{"product_id":"9780803282094","title":"The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer","description":"\u003cp\u003eBefore 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Conquest\u003c\/i\u003e. 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, \u003ci\u003eThe Conquest\u003c\/i\u003e \"is a true story of a negro who was discontented and [of] the circumstances that were the outcome of that discontent.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"UNP - Nebraska Paperback","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47300754473200,"sku":"9780803282094","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780803282094_p0.jpg?v=1763729220","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780803282094","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}