Description
Book SynopsisWith what effects, Rice asks, did humankind exploit and then alter the landscape and the quality of the river's waters? Equal parts environmental, Native American, and colonial history, Nature and History in the Potomac Country is a useful and innovative study of the Potomac River, its valley, and its people.
Trade ReviewA well-executed regional history that serves as a powerful example of the necessity of environmental history focused on the intimate details of both natural and cultural landscapes. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography James Rice successfully combines all three endeavors in an impressive study of the interplay of Indians, Europeans, and the environment in the Potomac Valley... Scholars of Indian history, environmental history, early American history, and anyone who wants to take a fresh look at this area of the country will appreciate this fine book. Maryland Historical Magazine This refreshing book should serve as a model for future studies of colonial America examining particular places and the peoples who lived there. Journal of American History This well-written important new book-persuasively argued and firmly rooted in the evidence-deserves a wide readership among students of early America, and it might just help to push the field in a welcome new direction. Journal of Interdisciplinary History Rice's contribution provides a successful model for future studies of the region's colonial history and should prove indispensable for anyone interested in the social, economic, and environmental history of the southern colonies. -- Mikko Saikku Journal of Southern History Innovative and vividly written, this important book provides a fine example of a new, more comprehensive approach to the study of the colonial experience... Rice's contribution provides a successful model for future studies of the region's colonial history and should prove indispensable for anyone interested in the social, economic, and environmental histories of the southern colonies. Journal of Southern History Rice's account is an absorbing history, elegantly told. Choice A valuable contribution to environmental history. Agricultural History
Table of ContentsPreface
A Note on Language and Usage
Introduction
1. Ahone's Waters
2. Foragers into Farmers
3. "Kings" of the Potomac
4. The Nature of Colonization
5. Peltries and "Papists"
6. "You Come Too Near"
7. Microbes, Magistrates, and Migrations
8. "Away with All These Distractions"
9. "Frightened Away by Some Threatening Discourses"
10. "I Can Not Live in This Beautiful Land"
11. The Trouble with Boundaries
12. The Backcountry Transformed
13. "The Finest Country I Ever Was In"
Coda
Notes
Index
