Iowa the Middle Land Dorothy Schwieder, in her book Iowa the Middle Land, challenges the stereotypical view of Iowans and delves in deeper about Iowa’s history and the transition of how it became the state known to its’ citizens today. Throughout the course of the book, one learns, an in-depth history of Iowa not generally taught in most schools. This book explores the changes in Iowa’s history that have occurred from the time Iowa was a territory, to statehood, and to the present. Not only does this book offer important facts and the history of the state, but also entertaining and interesting facts, for instance, the first governor of Iowa was a stagecoach driver named Ansel Briggs. All of the information in this book and her arguments further explain why she believes Iowa is the middle land. One of Schwieder’s main points is that Iowa is very much in the middle, and not just because of its location. Everything about the state of Iowa is in the middle, from the geographic location, to the demographic and topography of the land. Iowa is a transitional state …show more content…
Her book, Iowa the Middle Land discusses how Iowa and everything relating to it, is in the middle. She explains her arguments thoroughly using Iowa’s history to back up her points. She divided her book into three sections to help explain the transitions of Iowa’s history. In each section, she has different chapters to break it down further; this is an effective way to promote her arguments. She argues that Iowa is in the middle of the country and its topography is also centralized because it helps transition travelers to what lays ahead in connecting states. She also goes into detail about the political and economic aspect of the state and how through the course of Iowa’s history Iowans became not exceedingly wealthy or poor, along with not being radically liberal or conservative but somewhere in the
Congressman Bishop began the seminar by discussing public lands and his continued work on the projects that he believes benefit Utah. He described the issue by first displaying a map of the amount of land that is considered public lands in the west in comparison to the land in the east. By and large, the east has little public lands and the west has a considerable amount. Congressman Bishop explained that this is because when the Eastern states joined the union they were given their land back to them. When the federal government did not give the land back a couple of eastern states sued the federal government and received their land.
Debra Marquart has written a memoir titled The Horizontal World to emit readers of her love for the upper Midwest. Marquart uses diction and contrast to characterize the Midwest. In doing so, Marquart hopes to show the importance of this region to those who already have a generalized opinion of the Midwest. In the passage, Marquart uses concrete diction when describing how people such as those who visit view the upper Midwest.
Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarker’s and Their image by Brooks Blevins, a book that’s title aptly describes what this book is about. It is trying to show more of a realistic view of the people and culture of the Ozarks in Arkansas. With the majority of information seemingly coming straight out census reports. Though these reports may not have been as accurate as they could have been census reports would not have been biased by popular views of the outside world. He is trying to refute the image that Ozarker’s are all backward hill folk that do little other than wrestle pigs and make moonshine.
Abigail Scott Duniway Woman’s suffrage in the Pacific Northwest is something taken for granted these days. Women were not always able to vote; at least, not before a select group of women stood up for what they thought was right. Abigail Scott Duniway was one of those women. She was a suffragette for the West, specifically Oregon State.
Marquart includes outside evidence of a survey that states, “Major Stephen Long’s survey declared the region a dreary plain, wholly unfit for cultivation…….”(l.38-40). By including outside backing of the Midwest, it further demonstrates how another point of views on the Midwest also characterize it. Marquart expands her argument of the characterization of the Midwest, by connecting it to other characterizations. Marquart first appears to agree with other characteristics of the Midwest, to counter-argue the general idea of the Midwest.
In the excerpt from the A Plea for the West, written by Lyman Beecher, the author argued that the West had much importance to start out on the right foot and become a place that is respectable and stable. There are no churches, schools, homes, or anything that the East and the South already boasted during that time period. Beecher even
Countless citizens in the 1840s and 1850s, feeling a sense of mission, believed that Almighty God had “manifestly’’ destined the American people for a hemispheric career. They would spread their uplifting and ennobling democratic institutions over at least the entire continent. Land greed and ideals—“empire’’ and “liberty’’—were thus conveniently conjoined. 14. What political party cost Henry Clay the popular vote in the state of New York, & what is ironic about Polk’s election in 1844 regarding this party’s position on Texas?
California was born in the middle of many issues of conflict. Crisis over slavery, political legitimacy, and conflict over land, labor, race and ethnicity ( Competing Vision 132 ).During the mid 1800’s California saw many transformations, some positive some negative. There was a slow reservations development for Indians, but a better established land ownership. With certain political figures, who rallied to remove laws, which discriminated against African Americans and rather high religious tolerance, California was taking a distinct shape.
For the Sioux tribe, American expansion caused many problems and hardships, primarily derived from Americans’ dislike for Natives. This is evident in an excerpt from the book Sioux by D. L. Birchfield. One can see from this excerpt that when streams of American expansion moved west because of the California Gold Rush, they brought various illnesses and sickness to the Sioux. The spread of smallpox, measles, and other contagious diseases killed off an estimated ½ of their population (Birchfield). Settlers were not sad because of this news, and a lot were actually glad that so many Native Americans had died.
In the beginning before America came to be, many things had to come into play but the main idea that helped develop the American Identity was Migration. The migration of people has helped create an American identity. During three periods of history significant changes happened that helped frame who Americans are. During the Colonial time period, Jamestown Colony was the first successful colony in the America that was formed by the British; it almost failed because of disease and starvation during the first winter; they finally made money with via cash crops;tobacco.
During 1800-1850 the united states experienced a period of sectionalism. Sectionalism The United states were divided into the northeast, south and the west. There were many different reasons for this division of the states. In my paper I will point out a few points from each section that caused the period of sectionalism. I will first start off by talking about the North.
A pivotal key in the development of United States is defining what and where the West is located. There are many “wests” depending on how the west is defined, either by environmental, economic, cultural, or political factors (Steiner & Wrobel, 20). The West is unique in the sense that the story of the West has many beginnings. The first notable location of the West was first defined as anything west of the Mississippi River. As the nation expanded during the 19th century, the western territories were
Max Drucker October 18, 2017 Donald Worster Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s Topic: Donald Worster focuses on the events that lead up to the dust bowl, how it happens, what causes it to happen, the factors, and how it causes the push for farmers to move toward mechanization to achieve higher profits. He talks about the new deal created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and how it effects the situation with the dust bowl. It is also talks about the living conditions of people during this time and high demand for these farming jobs.
Separation or Equality "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." — The Declaration of Independence. If we are all created equal, then why do some of us feel superior and make fun of others. Although many people believe that it is fine to appropriate Native American Imagery, Amy Stretten strongly expresses that doing so is very offensive to Native Americans and should consequently be eliminated. In her essay, "Appropriating Native American Imagery Honors
Between 1800 and 1850 there was a dramatic increase in population and territory growth, an ideological change within the national focus, and a fracturing in political unity. The Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican American War creates the coast to coast nation, that correlates with the population and migration increase. This westward nation complements the new national focus of westward expansion and industrialization. However, fracturing in the political landscape forms a non-unified government resulting in partisan politics and little legislation.