A History of AppalachiaRichard Drake has skillfully woven together the various strands of the Appalachian experience into a sweeping whole. Touching upon folk traditions, health care, the environment, higher education, the role of blacks and women, and much more, Drake offers a compelling social history of a unique American region. The Appalachian region, extending from Alabama in the South up to the Allegheny highlands of Pennsylvania, has historically been characterized by its largely rural populations, rich natural resources that have fueled industry in other parts of the country, and the strong and wild, undeveloped land. The rugged geography of the region allowed Native American societies, especially the Cherokee, to flourish. Early white settlers tended to favor a self-sufficient approach to farming, contrary to the land grabbing and plantation building going on elsewhere in the South. The growth of a market economy and competition from other agricultural areas of the country sparked an economic decline of the region's rural population at least as early as 1830. The Civil War and the sometimes hostile legislation of Reconstruction made life even more difficult for rural Appalachians. Recent history of the region is marked by the corporate exploitation of resources. Regional oil, gas, and coal had attracted some industry even before the Civil War, but the postwar years saw an immense expansion of American industry, nearly all of which relied heavily on Appalachian fossil fuels, particularly coal. What was initially a boon to the region eventually brought financial disaster to many mountain people as unsafe working conditions and strip mining ravaged the land and its inhabitants. A History of Appalachia also examines pockets of urbanization in Appalachia. Chemical, textile, and other industries have encouraged the development of urban areas. At the same time, radio, television, and the internet provide residents direct links to cultures from all over the world. The author looks at the process of urbanization as it belies commonly held notions about the region's rural character. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 36
... Alabama, and Georgia. Later captains of industry believed they were bringing great opportunity to mill workers and miners, yet the wage scale imposed and the villages established created feudal dependence. In fact, the schemes of ...
... Alabama, particularly rich remains indicate that the site was occupied as far back as 6000 B.C. The Quad site near Birmingham, Alabama, may in fact date back to the Paleo–Indian Period. In this more settled period, caves were carefully ...
... Alabama. This variant of Mississippian culture has been termed “Southern Appalachian Mississippian,” which modified the flat-topped pyramidal mound and also retained some Woodland characteristics. Sites of this Southern Appalachian ...
... Alabama. The Cherokee called themselves “Aniyunwiya,” meaning “the principal people.” Probably, they had moved to their southern home from the north, where they had been part of the Iroquois people. The Cherokee speak an Iroquoian ...
... Alabama River to the Coosa River, then westward across northern Alabama. Then in 1566, a military camp under the command of Juan Pardo was established by the Spanish for some months in the Carolina upcountry on the eastern slope of the ...