Topic: American History / 1800-1860 - Growing and Dividing

 
Making of the American West
People and Perspectives
Benjamin H. Johnson, Editor
978-1-85109-768-5

This eBook may be purchased through the following distributors:

 
Benjamin H. Johnson, Editor
Benjamin H. Johnson is associate professor of history at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX. His published works include Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans Into Americans.
ADD COPY 2009 ABC-CLIO
Customer Service 800-368-6868

Making of the American West

People and Perspectives

Benjamin H. Johnson, Editor Benjamin H. Johnson, Editor

May 2007

ABC-CLIO

Series: Perspectives in American Social History

Cover
Pages
Volumes
Size
Hardcover
372
1
7x10
 
ISBN
eISBN
978-1-85109-763-0
978-1-85109-768-5
Print in Stock
$85.00

add to cart

A richly researched, evocative account of the individuals and institutions involved in the settling of the non-Indian West—and of the impact of the development of the West on the nation as a whole.

In the 19th century, the United States established control over the western half of the continent, boldly confronting Mexico, European powers, and powerful indian peoples. It was achieved through a combination of high-level politics, diplomacy, and military conflict—but also shaping the expansion were ordinary people from all walks of life, responding to the allure of the West as a place of extraordinary promise.

Making of the American West surveys the experiences of major social groups in the lands from the Mississippi to the Pacific, from the United States' penetration of the region in the early 19th century to its incorporation into national political, economic, and cultural fabric by the early 20th century.

This revealing volume offers fascinating portraits of the people and institutions that drove the Western conquest (traders and trappers, ranchers and settlers, corporations, the federal government), as well as of those who resisted conquest or hoped for the emergence of a different society (Indian peoples, Latinos, Asians, wage laborers). Throughout, expert contributors continually return to the growing myth of the West and the impact of its promise of freedom and opportunity on those who sought to “Americanize” it.

Features
• A series of primary documents that give insight into direct experiences of groups featured and debates about Western issues at the time
• A rich variety of images and illustrations depicting the people and places covered in the book and capturing the various myths of the West circulated at the time

Highlights
• Mixes familiar groups and topics with unexpected and under-studied ones, thus blending older approaches to Western history with more recent revisionist accounts
• Ties the West to the larger history of the United States, including its emergence as a unified industrial power in the early 20th century
• Explores as a key theme the creation of a mythical West and the interaction between those myths and the actual experiences of Westerners
Benjamin H. Johnson is associate professor of history at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX. His published works include Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression Turned Mexicans Into Americans.
Reviews
"Recommended. All academic libraries; lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers."—Choice





Other Titles Of Interest
Westward Expansion Cover ImageTurning Points—Actual and Alternate Histories Cover ImageThe Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists Cover ImageThe Papers of James Monroe Cover ImageThe Louisiana Purchase Cover ImageThe Lewis and Clark Expedition Cover ImageThe Industrial Revolution in America Cover ImageThe Industrial Revolution in America Cover ImageThe Antebellum Era Cover ImageThe Abolitionist Movement Cover ImageTerm Paper Resource Guide to Nineteenth-Century U.S. History Cover ImageShapers of the Great Debate on Jacksonian Democracy Cover ImagePresidents from Adams through Polk, 1825-1849 Cover ImagePlaces of the Underground Railroad Cover ImageIndian Fighters Turned American Politicians Cover ImageHeralds of Promise Cover ImageGiving Meanings to the World Cover ImageEncyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America Cover ImageEarly Republic Cover ImageAlexander T. Stewart Cover ImageA Decade of Sectional Controversy, 1851-1861 Cover Image
Westward Expansion Cover Image
Westward Expansion

Sara E. Quay

2002 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $59.95

 

 

Turning Points—Actual and Alternate Histories Cover Image
Turning Points—Actual and Alternate Histories
Manifest Destiny and the Expansion of America

Rodney P. Carlisle and J. Geoffrey Golson, Editors

2007 / ABC-CLIO

 

Hardcover $85.00

 

 

The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists Cover Image
The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists

Barry Hankins

2004 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $49.95

 

 

The Papers of James Monroe Cover Image
The Papers of James Monroe
A Documentary History of the Presidential Tours of James Monroe, 1817, 1818, 1819^LVolume 1

Daniel Preston, Marlena C. eLong, asst. ed.

2003 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $157.95

 

 

The Louisiana Purchase Cover Image
The Louisiana Purchase
A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia

Junius P. Rodriguez

2002 / ABC-CLIO

 

Hardcover $95.00

 

 

The Lewis and Clark Expedition Cover Image
The Lewis and Clark Expedition

Harry William Fritz

2004 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $49.95

 

 

The Industrial Revolution in America Cover Image
The Industrial Revolution in America
Communications, Agriculture and Meatpacking, Overview/Comparison

Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom

2007 / ABC-CLIO

 

Hardcover $185.00

 

 

The Industrial Revolution in America Cover Image
The Industrial Revolution in America
Iron and Steel, Railroads, Steam Shipping

Kevin Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom

2005 / ABC-CLIO

 

Hardcover $185.00

 

 

The Antebellum Era Cover Image
The Antebellum Era
Primary Documents on Events from 1820 to 1860

David A. Copeland

2003 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $76.95

 

 

The Abolitionist Movement Cover Image
The Abolitionist Movement

Claudine L. Ferrell

2005 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $46.95

 

 

Term Paper Resource Guide to Nineteenth-Century U.S. History Cover Image
Term Paper Resource Guide to Nineteenth-Century U.S. History

Kathleen W. Craver

2008 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $65.00

 

 

Shapers of the Great Debate on Jacksonian Democracy Cover Image
Shapers of the Great Debate on Jacksonian Democracy
A Biographical Dictionary

Paul E. Doutrich

2004 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $82.95

 

 

Presidents from Adams through Polk, 1825-1849 Cover Image
Presidents from Adams through Polk, 1825-1849
Debating the Issues in Pro and Con Primary Documents

David A. Smith

2005 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $62.95

 

 

Places of the Underground Railroad Cover Image
Places of the Underground Railroad
A Geographical Guide

Tom Calarco, with Cynthia Vogel, Kathryn Grover, Rae Hallstrom, Sharron L. Pope, and Melissa Waddy-Thibodeaux

2010 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $85.00

 

 

Indian Fighters Turned American Politicians Cover Image
Indian Fighters Turned American Politicians
From Military Service to Public Office

Thomas G. Mitchell

2003 / Praeger

 

Hardcover $62.95

 

 

Heralds of Promise Cover Image
Heralds of Promise
The Drama of the American People During the Age of Jackson, 1829-1849

Meserve

1986 / Praeger

 

Hardcover $115.00

 

 

Giving Meanings to the World Cover Image
Giving Meanings to the World
The First U.S. Foreign Correspondents, 1838-1859

Giovanna Dell'Orto

2002 / Praeger

 

Hardcover $95.00

 

 

Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America Cover Image
Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America

James S. Olson

2001 / Greenwood

 

Hardcover $87.95

 

 

Early Republic Cover Image
Early Republic
People and Perspectives

Andrew K. Frank, Editor

2008 / ABC-CLIO

 

Hardcover $85.00

 

 

Alexander T. Stewart Cover Image
Alexander T. Stewart
The Forgotten Merchant Prince

Stephen N. Elias

1992 / Praeger

 

Hardcover $119.95

 

 

A Decade of Sectional Controversy, 1851-1861 Cover Image
A Decade of Sectional Controversy, 1851-1861

Simms

1978 / Praeger

 

Hardcover $97.95