The Conquest & The Homesteader

The Conquest - The novel narrates the story of Micheaux, who bears the same name as its famous author, and his struggles to become a successful homesteader in Dakota. Largely autobiographical, the novel details the early years of struggle and hard work that went into surviving the tough Wild West. The Homesteader - Jean Baptiste is a hard-working man whose only dream is to make a life for himself in Dakota. However, even as a Black pioneer, he is doomed to be separated from the love of his love due to racial laws prohibiting interracial marriages. Thus, to avoid the all-consuming loneliness, he instead decides to get married to Orlean. However, his new father-in-law is a nightmare from hell and although a preacher, all his attention is focused upon him rather than in the service of god. Can Baptiste survive the ordeal or will he succumb to the psychological pressures?

Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) was an African-American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled by Black filmmakers, Micheaux is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, a prominent producer of race film, and has been described as 'the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century'. He produced both silent films and sound films.