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A Whole Country in Commotion

Author: Patrick G. Williams

Publisher: University of Arkansas Press

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1557287848

Bringing together the work of prominent scholars and rising stars in southern, western, and Indian history, A Whole Country in Commotion explores lesser-known aspects of one of the better-known episodes in U.S. history. While the purchase has been seen as a great boon for the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and securing American navigation on the Mississippi River, it also brought turmoil to many. Looking past the triumphal aspects of the purchase, this book examines the “negotiations among peoples, nations and empires that preceded and followed the actual transfer of territory.” Its nine essays highlight the “commotion” the purchase stirred up—among nations, among Louisiana residents and newcomers, even among those who remained east of the Mississippi. Many of these essays look at the portion of the Louisiana territory that would become Arkansas to illustrate the profound impact of the purchase on the diverse populations of the American Southwest. Others explore the woeful commotion brought to many thousands of lives as Jefferson's “noble bargain” set the stage for the forced migration of native and African Americans from the east to the west of the Mississippi.

David Crockett: His Life and Adventures

Author: John S. C. Abbott

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2019-11-22

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13:

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John S.C. Abbott's 'David Crockett: His Life and Adventures' is a biography of one of America's most celebrated folk heroes. Born in East Tennessee, Crockett was a hunter and storyteller who became a colonel in the militia and later represented Tennessee in the U.S. Congress. A fierce opponent of President Andrew Jackson's policies, Crockett lost his seat in 1831 but was re-elected in 1833. When he narrowly lost again in 1835, he left for Texas, where he died fighting for independence in the Battle of the Alamo. Crockett's larger-than-life exploits became the stuff of legend, and he continues to be celebrated in popular culture today.

Creating the American West

Author: Derek R. Everett

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2014-05-27

Total Pages: 443

ISBN-13: 0806146133

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Boundaries—lines imposed on the landscape—shape our lives, dictating everything from which candidates we vote for to what schools our children attend to the communities with which we identify. In Creating the American West, historian Derek R. Everett examines the function of these internal lines in American history generally and in the West in particular. Drawing lines to create states in the trans-Mississippi West, he points out, imposed a specific form of political organization that made the West truly American. Everett examines how settlers lobbied for boundaries and how politicians imposed them. He examines the origins of boundary-making in the United States from the colonial era through the Louisiana Purchase. Case studies then explore the ethnic, sectional, political, and economic angles of boundaries. Everett first examines the boundaries between Arkansas and its neighboring Native cultures, and the pseudo war between Missouri and Iowa. He then traces the lines splitting the Oregon Country and the states of California and Nevada, and considers the ethnic and political consequences of the boundary between New Mexico and Colorado. He explains the evolution of the line splitting the Dakotas, and concludes with a discussion of ways in which state boundaries can contribute toward new interpretations of borderlands history. A major theme in the history of state boundaries is the question of whether to use geometric or geographic lines—in other words, lines corresponding to parallels and meridians or those fashioned by natural features. With the distribution of western land, Everett shows, geography gave way to geometry and transformed the West. The end of boundary-making in the late nineteenth century is not the end of the story, however. These lines continue to complicate a host of issues including water rights, taxes, political representation, and immigration. Creating the American West shows how the past continues to shape the present.