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
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... thousand feet and the peaks at six thousand feet and more, assures a great variety of natural life. All the area enjoys adequate rainfall, from 40 to 120 inches annually. The diversity of life that has developed in these mountains is ...
... thousand years ago, societies that had become less dependent upon hunting large animals developed a more diversified economy of gathering various vegetables, fishing, and hunting small game. Such a society could settle a specific area ...
... thousand pearls—elaborate obsidian knives, conch shells, and alligator teeth. These artifacts indicate an active trade system stretching to the Rocky Mountains, northern Michigan, and south to Florida. Socially, the Hopewell lived in an ...
... thousand people lived within the five-and-one-half square miles of the city walls. Within the Appalachian region, the principal society influenced by Mississippian culture was the Cherokee. Mississippian sites that have been excavated ...
... thousand, though some estimates exceed ten times that population before European contact. These towns were clustered ... thousands of years ago. The Cherokee believe that their original town in the south was Kituwah in Swain County ...