The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History; Volume 3: Transcontinental America, 1850–1915

by D. W. Meinig

• ISBN13: 9780300082906
• ISBN10: 0300082908
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-04-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

In this third volume of his acclaimed series, D. W. Meinig offers a riveting account of the expanding country's development from mid-nineteenth century to the onset of World War I. Beginning with the struggle over where to build the Pacific railway, the book details the settlement of the American West, the nation's increasing consolidation, and America's imperialist efforts in the Caribbean and Pacific. Forty superb new maps accompany the account.

Author Biography

D. W. Meinig is Maxwell Research Professor of Geography at Syracuse University

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
PART ONE ARTICULATION: BINDING THE COASTS TOGETHER
Prologue	3	(1)
Forging the Iron Bond	4	(27)
PART TWO DOMINION: THE EMERGENCE OF AMERICAN WESTS
Prologue	31	(1)
Delineating the New West	31	(5)
California	36	(19)
Southern California	55	(14)
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest	69	(20)
Zion, Deseret, and Utah	89	(24)
New Mexico: Hispano, Indian, Anglo	113	(20)
The Colorado Complex	133	(12)
The Rest of the West	145	(22)
Indians and Empire	167	(9)
American Wests--American Domain	176	(11)
PART THREE CONSOLIDATION: STRUCTURING AN AMERICAN NATION
Prologue	187	(1)
A Re-United States	187	(40)
New Economic Regions	227	(18)
Railroads: The Contest for Territory	245	(20)
Populations and Peoples	265	(28)
Systems and Symbols	293	(34)
PART FOUR SPHERES: AMERICAN INFLUENCE AND OUTREACH
Prologue	327	(1)
Canada and Continentalism	327	(20)
Mexico and an American Mediterranean	347	(17)
Hawaii and an American Pacific	364	(16)
Panama and Transcontinental Completion	380	(15)
Sources of Quotations	395	(18)
Bibliography	413	(30)
Index	443