HIST 284 West of the Mississippi: Peoples and Landscapes (1803-1903)
In 1803 Congress authorized statehood for the most “western” new state—Ohio. That same year, President Jefferson transformed the very idea of a “western” US by acquiring the Louisiana Purchase. The US government continued to expand control over western lands until the USA spread from “sea to shining sea” through treaties with Mexico, via a provoked one-sided war, and with Great Britain.
In this course we will explore the peoples and the landscapes of the US “West” as they evolved from 1803 to 1903, starting with the indigenous people, adding fur trappers, miners, farmers (white Midwesterners and “Exoduster” freed people), Mormons, railroad workers, “Buffalo soldiers,” cattle and sheep ranchers, among others, along the way. As new people arrived, they shaped and reshaped the landscape, sometimes intentionally, other times inadvertently.
At the turn of the 20 th century, native people had been exiled to reservations and “big business” [mining, ranching, farming] prevailed. Yet, the western states led the nation in giving women the right to vote, created some of the strongest labor unions, and gave birth to the nation’s first environmental conservation movement.
OWU Units: 1.00. Crosslisting(s): None. Prerequisite(s): None. Corequisite(s): None. Antirequisite(s): None. Fee: None. Core Competency: Listen, Imagine, and Understand. Offered: TBD.
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