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E-book
Author Rice, James D., 1963-

Title Nature & history in the Potomac country : from hunter-gatherers to the age of Jefferson / James D. Rice
Published Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 338 pages) : illustrations, maps
Contents Preface. The hole in the map -- Introduction. Ahone's gift -- 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. Ahone's legacy
Summary "James D. Rice's study of the Potomac River basin begins with a mystery. Why, when the whole of the region offered fertile soil and excellent fishing and hunting, was nearly three-quarters of the land uninhabited on the eve of colonization? Rice wonders how the existence of this no man's land influenced nearby Native American and, later, colonial settlements. Did it function as a commons, as a place where all were free to hunt and fish? Or was it perceived as a strange and hostile wilderness?" "Rice discovers environmental factors at the center of the story. Making use of extensive archaeological and anthropological research, as well as the vast scholarship on farming practices in the colonial period, he traces the region's history from its earliest known habitation. Rice makes clear the implications of unbridled economic development for the forests, streams, and wetlands of the Potomac River basin. With 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."--Jacket
Analysis "Multi-User"
Notes OldControl:muse9781421402628
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-330) and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Human ecology -- Potomac River Valley -- History
Landscape changes -- Potomac River Valley -- History
Nature -- Effect of human beings on -- Potomac River Valley -- History
Indians of North America -- Potomac River Valley -- History
Colonization
Ecology
Human ecology
Indians of North America
Landscape changes
Nature -- Effect of human beings on
SUBJECT Potomac River Valley -- Colonization
Potomac River Valley -- History
Potomac River -- History
Potomac River Valley -- Environmental conditions
Potomac River -- Environmental conditions
Subject United States -- Potomac River
United States -- Potomac River Valley
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2008011844
ISBN 9781421402628
1421402629