A Whole Country in Commotion

by WILLIAMS, PATRICK G.; Bolton, S. Charles; Whayne, Jeannie M.

• ISBN13: 9781557287847
• ISBN10: 1557287848
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-15
• Publisher: Univ of Arkansas Pr

Summary

Bringing together the work of prominent scholars and rising stars in southern, western, and Indian history, A Whole Country in Commotion explores lesser-known aspects of one of the better-known episodes in U.S. history. While the purchase has been seen as a great boon for the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and securing American navigation on the Mississippi River, it also brought turmoil to many. Looking past the triumphal aspects of the purchase, this book examines the 'œnegotiations among peoples, nations and empires that preceded and followed the actual transfer of territory.' Its nine essays highlight the 'œcommotion' the purchase stirred up'”among nations, among Louisiana residents and newcomers, even among those who remained east of the Mississippi. Many of these essays look at the portion of the Louisiana territory that would become Arkansas to illustrate the profound impact of the purchase on the diverse populations of the American Southwest. Others explore the woeful commotion brought to many thousands of lives as Jefferson's 'œnoble bargain' set the stage for the forced migration of native and African Americans from the east to the west of the Mississippi.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: A Whole Country in Commotion
PATRICK G. WILLIAMS	xi
PART ONE: West by Southwest: The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion
1. Lewis and Clark: Kidnappers
ELLIOTT WEST	3	(18)
2. Jefferson's Grand Expedition and the Mystery of the Red River
DAN FLORES	21	(20)
3. Could Louisiana Have Become an Hispano-Indian Republic?
KATHLEEN DUVAL	41	(18)
PART TWO: Transforming the Territory
4. A Shifting Middle Ground: Arkansas's Frontier Exchange Economy and the Louisiana Purchase
JEANNIE M. WHAYNE	59	(18)
5. Jeffersonian Indian Removal and the Emergence of Arkansas Territory
S. CHARLES BOLTON	77	(14)
6. "Outcasts upon the World": The Louisiana Purchase and the Quapaws
JOSEPH PATRICK KEY	91	(16)
7. The Louisiana Purchase and the Black Experience
CHARLES F. ROBINSON II	107	(14)
8. The First Years of American Justice: Courts and Lawyers on the Arkansas Frontier
LYNN FOSTER	121	(28)
PART THREE: Remembering the Purchase Era
9. Dancing into the Past: Colonial Legacies in Modern Caddo Indian Ceremony
GEORGE SABO III	149	(20)
Notes	169	(48)
Index	217