Trans-Appalachian Frontier, Third Edition: People, Societies, and Institutions, 1775-1850

The first American frontier lay just beyond the Appalachian Mountains and along the Gulf Coast. Here, successive groups of pioneers built new societies and developed new institutions to cope with life in the wilderness. In this thorough revision of his classic account, Malcolm J. Rohrbough tells the dramatic story of these men and women from the first Kentucky settlements to the closing of the frontier. Rohrbough divides his narrative into major time periods designed to establish categories of description and analysis, presenting case studies that focus on the county, the town, the community, and the family, as well as politics and urbanization. He also addresses Spanish, French, and Native American traditions and the anomalous presence of African slaves in the making of this story.

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations A Note on Citations, Quotations, Maps, and Place Names Introduction Part I. Across the Mountains 1. The Struggle for Security 2. The Search for Stability 3. Security and Stability in the Territory Northwest of the Ohio Part II. The Widening Frontier, 1795–1815 4. The Reach of Government and the Authority of Law Spread across the Western Country 5. Diverse Economies Moving toward Commercial Ends 6. Many Varied Societies Emerge across the Western Country Part III. The First Great Migration, 1815–1830 7. Across the Old Northwest and into Missouri 8. The Flowering of the Cotton Frontier Part IV. The Enduring Frontiers 9. Michigan: The Great Lakes Frontier 10. Florida: A Sectional Frontier 11. Arkansas: A Frontier More West than South Part V. The Second Great Migration, 1830–1850 12. The New Counties of Alabama and Mississippi: A Frontier More South than West 13. The Last Frontier of the Old Northwest: Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin Part VI. The Trans-Appalachian West and the Nation 14. Villages, Towns, and Cities Spread across the Western Country 15. Changing Political Patterns across Three Generations 16. The Trans-Appalachian West and the Nation Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Malcolm J. Rohrbough is Professor of History at the University of Iowa and co-editor (with Walter Nugent) of the Indiana University Press series A History of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier.

Review :
"The definitive history of the subject. Nothing approaches it in the scope of its coverage. I can think of no other book more frequently cited ... on the conquest, settlement, and development of the region between the Appalachians and the Great Plains. [It is] the work of a master historian totally in control of his craft." Andrew Cayton, Distinguished Professor of History, Miami University