The American Midwest: Essays on Regional HistoryAndrew Robert Lee Cayton, Susan E. Gray In a series of often highly personal essays, the authors - all of whom are experts on various aspects of Midwestern history - consider the question of regional identity as a useful way of thinking about the history of the American Midwest. They begin with the assumption that Midwesterners have never been as consciously regional as Western or Southern Americans. They note the peculiar absence of the Midwest from the recent revival of interest in American regionalism among both scholars and journalists. Drawing on personal experiences as well as a wide variety of scholarship, the authors hope to stimulate readers into thinking more concretely about what it has meant to be from the Midwest - and why Midwesterners have traditionally been less assertive about their regional identity than other Americans. They suggest that the best place to find Midwesternness is in the stories the residents of the region have told about themselves and each other. Being Midwestern is mostly a state of mind. It is always fluid, always contested, always being renegotiated. fact that no one can agree on its borders, is part of a larger regional conversation about the ways in which Midwesterners imagine themselves and their relationships with other Americans. |
From inside the book
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Page 7
... United States govern- ment made its patronage something worth fighting over . Nearly everyone wanted to get more than his share of federal largesse . To be sure , within American federalism , allegiance was subdivided among states ...
... United States govern- ment made its patronage something worth fighting over . Nearly everyone wanted to get more than his share of federal largesse . To be sure , within American federalism , allegiance was subdivided among states ...
Page 17
... United States and northwestern Europe , a multitude of the most important figures in the United States were born and raised in the Mid- west . For the most part , they were people profoundly shaped by the re- gional story as it had ...
... United States and northwestern Europe , a multitude of the most important figures in the United States were born and raised in the Mid- west . For the most part , they were people profoundly shaped by the re- gional story as it had ...
Page 112
... United States Total Percent in Midwest Washington 305 58.6 Jackson 285 52.3 Jefferson 218 54.I Lincoln 214 64.5 ... United States . Wisconsin , Iowa , Missouri , Nebraska , and Kansas - fanning out westward from Illinois - contain 55 ...
... United States Total Percent in Midwest Washington 305 58.6 Jackson 285 52.3 Jefferson 218 54.I Lincoln 214 64.5 ... United States . Wisconsin , Iowa , Missouri , Nebraska , and Kansas - fanning out westward from Illinois - contain 55 ...
Contents
Pigs in Space or What Shapes Americas Regional Cultures? | 69 |
Jane Grey Swisshelm | 91 |
Race and Midwestern History | 123 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
The American Midwest: Essays on Regional History Andrew R. L. Cayton,Susan E. Gray Limited preview - 2001 |
The Identity of the American Midwest: Essays on Regional History Andrew Cayton,Susan E. Gray No preview available - 2007 |
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