A History of Appalachia

by Richard B. Drake

Book Overview

" Richard Drake has skillfully woven together the various strands of the Appalachian experience into a sweeping whole. Touching upon folk traditions, health care, the environment, higher education, the role of blacks and women, and much more, Drake offers a compelling social history of a unique American region. The Appalachian region, extending from Alabama in the South up to the Allegheny highlands of Pennsylvania, has historically been characterized...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813190606
• ISBN13: 9780813190600
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Appalachia Defined

A HISTORY OF APPALACHIA is a well-written, history of Appalachia. The introduction notes that "....there are those who reserve as Appalachia only those areas of the Southern Appalachians that are `real mountains." The author's definition is broader including "all of the provinces of the Southern Appalachian" and extends to western Pennsylvania.The book is organized in three parts. Part 1, titled THE CONTEST FOR APPALACHIA, covers the period from the Indians through the American Revolution. The author writes "The principal class who migrated to America after 1715 were mostly folk who shared a....desire for land to support their basically simple lives." These migrants passed through the coastal area and settled in the backwoods where small acreages were cleared and became basically a predominately yeoman (farm) economy. Part 2, THE NEW NATION AND THE APPALACHIAN BACKWOODS, covers the period through the Civil War. While Appalachia supported the Revolution, they had no representation at the constitutional debates of 1787-1789. "By 1800 quite a different European-derived society had developed along the Appalachian frontier" and the author notes that a "snug little rivalry" developed between the east and west sections of the eastern states. Appalachia supported the War of 1812 when loyalty soared in the Appalachian backwoods but divisive issues would soon appear.The text notes "most small farmers in East Tennessee, northern Georgia, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky usually identified more strongly with the....Union." These areas were often identified with the Radical Republican during Reconstruction.; however, by 1876 the ex-Confederates had again assumed control. The text briefly discusses the feuds of the era noting many were active "before the Civil War."The author notes that after the Civil War in the remoteness of mountain regions far from adequate transportation ", a remarkable similar way of life developed in Appalachia's most isolated sections" which resulted in increased isolation reinforcing a stereotype about a `strange and peculiar people."MODERN APPALACHIA, Part 3, narrates the period from Post-Reconstruction to the year 2000 covering the Industrial Revolution, the Depression, the War on Poverty, and finally the dawning of the Information Age. As the text notes "Appalachia has always been a complex area." From "1865 to 1920, Appalachia was discovered" and defined "by literate America who were northern writers. The picture that emerged was often grossly inaccurate, based on stereotype and self-serving characteristics." For example, "....the word hillbilly did not appear until 1900 when a New York Journal reporter defined such people as `free and untrammelled white' citizens living in the hills' with `no means to speak of, `who dresses as he can,'drinks whiskey, and fires off his revolver as fancy takes him."During the machine age the mineral exploitation of the area took place and in many areas of the Great Valley significant industria