This innovative study presents a new; integrated view of the Civil War and Reconstruction and the history of the western United States. Award-winning historians such as Steven Hahn; Martha Sandweiss; William Deverell; Virginia Scharff; and Stephen Kantrowitz offer original essays on lives; choices; and legacies in the American West; discussing the consequences for American Indian nations; the link between Reconstruction and suffrage movements; and cross-border interactions with Canada and Mexico. In the West; Civil War battlefields and Civil War politics engaged a wide range of ethnic and racial distinctions; raising questions that would arise only later in places farther east. Histories of Reconstruction in the South ignore the connections to previous occupation efforts and citizenship debates in the West. The stories contained in this volume complicate our understanding of the paths from slavery to freedom for white as well as non-white Americans. By placing the histories of the American West and the Civil War and Reconstruction period within one sustained conversation; this volume expands the limits of both by emphasizing how struggles over land; labor; sovereignty; and citizenship shaped the U.S. nation-state in this tumultuous era. This volume highlights significant moments and common concerns of this continuous conflict; as it stretched across the continent and throughout the nineteenth century. Publishing on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War; this collection brings eminent historians into conversation; looking at the Civil War from several Western perspectives; and delivers a refreshingly disorienting view intended for scholars; general readers; and students. Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies; Southern Methodist University.
#1057198 in Books University of California Press 2012-02-22Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .80 x 6.00l; .90 #File Name: 0520272080312 pagesUniversity of California Press
Review
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful. WordyBy BoA little wordy I thought it was going to be about Band Stand but it was about a lot more and I had to put it down because it was just too much0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Four StarsBy Thomas B. GarrettI lived thru this experience7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Nicest Kids in TownBy atibamaniiI absolutely recommend this book to all Americans! Especially since the recent passing of Dick Clark.Mr. Delmont reminds us of two important things about the U.S. in the 1950s 1960s that still resonate in 2012. 1) American Bandstand was an American commercial enterprise that was not in the forefront of segregation; and 2) American Bandstand's mission was to reach a new growing teenaged consumer population. The show was designed for that from the beginning; meaning that its purpose was not only to reach as many teens as it could; and therefore sell as much product as possible; but also to keep from offending as many of those teens; and their parents; as possible.You cannot have it both ways. You cannot increase your ratings on commercial television by taking a stand on a very controversial subject; such as race relations and integration were in the 1950s 1960s. It couldn't be done then; and it can't be done now!This is also an excellent history of segregation in housing; education; employment; and overall opportunity in Philadelphia that represents a microcosm of the United States.
