White by Definition

White by Definition
Author: Virginia R. Dominguez
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1993-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780813520889

"A profound study of the nebulous Creoles. . . . Dom nguez's use of original sources . . . is scholarship at its best. . . . Her study is fascinating, thought-provoking, controversial, and without a doubt, one of the most objective analyses of Creole Louisiana. Her emphasis on social stratification and her excellent integration of ethnic and racial classification of Creoles with legal and social dynamics and individual choice of ethnic identity elucidates strikingly the continuing controversy of who and what is a Louisiana Creole."--Journal of American Ethnic History "Dom nguez's most important contribution lies in her conceptualization of the problem of identity. She treats ethnic identity as something that can change over time, warning us against imposing current meanings on the past and requiring us to consider evidence of how terms were actually used in the past. . . . It is hard to imagine a frame of reference more ideally suited to historical analysis."--Louisiana History "A valuable interdisciplinary examination of the processes of racial definition in Louisiana's history. Her study combines the anthropologist's sensitivity to language and self definition within a community with a skillful exploitation of historical sources."--Law and Society "I highly recommend this book to all persons interested in social stratification."--Alvin L. Bertrand, Contemporary Sociology "A vivid and insightful reading of the historical circumstances that have shaped definitions of Creoles within Louisiana law and society."--Journal of Southern History "A profound study of the nebulous Creoles. . . . Dom nguez's use of original sources . . . is scholarship at its best. . . . Her study is fascinating, thought-provoking, controversial, and without a doubt, one of the most objective analyses of Creole Louisiana. Her emphasis on social stratification and her excellent integration of ethnic and racial classification of Creoles with legal and social dynamics and individual choice of ethnic identity elucidates strikingly the continuing controversy of who and what is a Louisiana Creole."--Journal of American Ethnic History "Dom nguez's most important contribution lies in her conceptualization of the problem of identity. She treats ethnic identity as something that can change over time, warning us against imposing current meanings on the past and requiring us to consider evidence of how terms were actually used in the past. . . . It is hard to imagine a frame of reference more ideally suited to historical analysis."--Louisiana History "A valuable interdisciplinary examination of the processes of racial definition in Louisiana's history. Her study combines the anthropologist's sensitivity to language and self definition within a community with a skillful exploitation of historical sources."--Law and Society "I highly recommend this book to all persons interested in social stratification."--Alvin L. Bertrand, Contemporary Sociology "A vivid and insightful reading of the historical circumstances that have shaped definitions of Creoles within Louisiana law and society."--Journal of Southern History

One Vast Winter Count

One Vast Winter Count
Author: Colin Gordon Calloway
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 563
Release: 2020-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1496206355

This magnificent, sweeping work traces the histories of the Native peoples of the American West from their arrival thousands of years ago to the early years of the nineteenth century. Emphasizing conflict and change, One Vast Winter Count offers a new look at the early history of the region by blending ethnohistory, colonial history, and frontier history. Drawing on a wide range of oral and archival sources from across the West, Colin G. Calloway offers an unparalleled glimpse at the lives of generations of Native peoples in a western land soon to be overrun.

Colonial Ste. Genevieve

Colonial Ste. Genevieve
Author: Carl J. Ekberg
Publisher: SIU Press
Total Pages: 543
Release: 2014-09-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0809333805

Dr. Ekberg's masterwork on the old French town south of St. Louis brings into sharp focus life in colonial America. Ekberg has rendered a rich portrait of community life on the most fascinating of American frontiers, the composite world of French Creoles and American Indians in the Mississippi Valley. This is an important book and a good read to boot. That's how Yale University's John Mack Faragher praised this book.

The Elusive West and the Contest for Empire, 1713-1763

The Elusive West and the Contest for Empire, 1713-1763
Author: Paul W. Mapp
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2012-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807838942

A truly continental history in both its geographic and political scope, The Elusive West and the Contest for Empire, 1713-1763 investigates eighteenth-century diplomacy involving North America and links geographic ignorance about the American West to Europeans' grand geopolitical designs. Breaking from scholars' traditional focus on the Atlantic world, Paul W. Mapp demonstrates the centrality of hitherto understudied western regions to early American history and shows that a Pacific focus is crucial to understanding the causes, course, and consequences of the Seven Years' War.

Creeks and Southerners

Creeks and Southerners
Author: Andrew Frank
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2005-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0803220162

"Creeks and Southerners studies the ways in which many children of these relationships lived both as Creek Indians and white Southerners. By carefully altering their physical appearances, choosing appropriate clothing, learning multiple languages, embracing maternal and paternal kinsmen and kinswomen, and balancing their loyalties, the children of intermarriages found ways to bridge what seemed to be an unbridgeable divide."--BOOK JACKET.

Flowing Through Time

Flowing Through Time
Author: Lynn Willoughby
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2012-05-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0817357254

This handsome, illustrated book chronicles the history of the Lower Chattahoochee River and the people who lived along its banks from prehistoric Indian settlement to the present day. In highly accessible, energetic prose, Lynn Willoughby takes readers down the Lower Chattahoochee River and through the centuries. On this journey, the author begins by examining the first encounters between Native Americans and European explorers and the international contest for control of the region in the 17th and 19th centuries.Throughout the book pays particular attention to the Chattahoochee's crucial role in the economic development of the area. In the early to mid-nineteenth century--the beginning of the age of the steamboat and a period of rapid growth for towns along the river--the river was a major waterway for the cotton trade. The centrality of the river to commerce is exemplified by the Confederacy's efforts to protect it from Federal forces during the Civil War. Once railroads and highways took the place of river travel, the economic importance of the river shifted to the building of dams and power plants. This subsequently led to the expansion of the textile industry. In the last three decades, the river has been the focus of environmental concerns and the subject of "water wars" because of the rapid growth of Atlanta. Written for the armchair historian and the scholar, the book provides the first comprehensive social, economic, and environmental history of this important Alabama-Georgia-Florida river. Historic photographs and maps help bring the river's fascinating story to life.

A Strange Likeness

A Strange Likeness
Author: Nancy Shoemaker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2006-04-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195307100

When American Indians and Europeans met on the frontiers of 18th-century eastern North America, they had many shared ideas about human nature, political life, and social relations. This title is about how they came to see themselves as people so different in their customs and natures that they appeared to be each other's opposite.

A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida

A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida
Author: Bernard Romans
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 457
Release: 1999-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0817308768

Bernard Romans's A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida, William Bartram's Travels, and James Adair's History of the American Indian are the three most significant accounts of the southeastern United States published during the late 18th century. This new edition of Romans's Concise Natural History, edited by historian Kathryn Braund, provides the first fully annotated edition of this early and rare description of both the European settled areas and the adjoining Indian lands in what are now the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Romans's purpose in producing his Concise Natural History was twofold: to aid navigators and shippers by detailing the sailing passages of the region and to promote trade and settlement in the region. To those ends, he provided detailed scientific observations on the natural history of the area, a summary of the region's political history, and an assessment of the potential for economic growth in the Floridas based on the area's natural resources. A trained surveyor and cartographer and a self-taught naturalist, Romans supplied detailed descriptions of the region's topography and environment, including information about the climate and weather patterns, plants, animals, and diseases. He provided information about the state of scientific inquiry in the South and touched on many of the most important intellectual arguments of the day, such as the origin of the races, the practice of slavery, and the benefits and drawbacks of monopoly on trade. In addition, Concise Natural History can be placed firmly in the genre of colonial promotional literature. Romans's book was an enthusiastic guide aimed at those seeking to establish modest holdings in the region: "What a field is open here! . . . No country ever had such inexhaustible resources; no empire had ever half so many advantages combining in its behalf!" Romans explained how settlers should travel to the area, what they would need in terms of provisions and tools, and what it would cost to have their land surveyed. In addition to providing an abundance of practical advice, Romans also offered information about the history of earlier settlements, including the earliest and most complete account of New Smyrna near St. Augustine. Romans also presented unique information about the various Indian tribes he encountered. In fact, historians agree that among the most useful portions of the book are Romans's descriptions of the largest Indian tribes in the 18th-century Southeast: the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. Romans's account of the diet of the Creeks and Choctaws is one of the most complete available. And his description of the location of Choctaw village sites is one of the best sources for this information.

The Choctaw before Removal

The Choctaw before Removal
Author: Carolyn Keller Reeves
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2009-10-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1496800958

With essays by William Brescia Jr., Robert B. Ferguson, Patricia K. Galloway, John D. W. Guice, Grayson Noley, Carolyn Keller Reeves, Margaret Zehmer Searcy, and Samuel J. Wells This book focuses upon Choctaw history prior to 1830, when the tribe forfeited territorial claims and was removed from native lands in Mississippi. The included essays emphasize Choctaw anthropology, beliefs, and experience with the US government prior to the tribe's removal to Oklahoma. Attention is focused upon the ways in which European groups, frontiersmen, and state and federal officials affected the Choctaw ideology. This collection shows the relationship among the various forces that combined to erode the culture, economy, and political structure of the Choctaw.