The Upper Country

French Enterprise in the Colonial Great Lakes
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8018-8838-0
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 317 g

Reihe: Regional Perspectives on Early America

The Upper Country melds myth and conventional history to provide a memorable tale of French designs in the middle of what became the United States. Putting the reader on the battlefields, at the trading posts, and on the rivers with voyageurs and their allies from the Indian nations, Claiborne Skinner reveals the saintly missionaries and jolly fur traders of popular myth as agents of a hard-nosed, often ruthless, imperial endeavor.

Skinner’s engaging narrative takes the reader through daily life at posts like Forts Saint Louis and Michilimakinac, illuminates the complexities of interracial marriage with the courtship of Michel Aco at Peoria, and explains how France's New World adventurism played a role in the outbreak of the Seven Years War and the beginning of the modern era.

In this story, many of the traditional heroes and villains of American history take on surprising roles. The last Stuart kings of England seem shrewd and even human; George Washington makes his debut appearance on the stage of history by assassinating a French officer and plunging Europe into the first truly global war.

From unthinkable hardship to dreams of fur trade profits, this fascinating exploration sheds new light on France and its imperial venture into the Great Lakes.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Skinner, Claiborne A

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Besondere Kriege und Kampagnen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Glossary
Prologue: The Fur Trade and New France to 1676
1. Frontenac and La Salle, 1673–1682
2. The Great Turtle and the Rock, 1683–1687
3. War in the Wilderness, 1687–1701
4. The Foxes, 1701–1736
5. Illinois and the Chickasaw Wars, 1700–1740
6. A Country More Worthy of His Majesty's Attention, 1736–1754
7. ''A Few Acres of Snow,'' 1740–1754
Notes
Bibliographic Essay
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Skinner, Claiborne A
Claiborne A. Skinner is an instructor of history and social science at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.