Author Description

This authoritative illustrated reference covers three centuries of events and themes critical to the settlement and development of the U.S. frontier, including the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown in 1607, expeditions across the Appalachian Mountains, the opening of the Northwest Territory, exploration of the Mississippi River, homesteading on the Great Plains, gold and silver mining in the West, and the Indian Wars to the settlement of the Pacific Coast and the official closing of the American frontier in 1890. Nearly 500 in-depth signed articles cover personalities and peoples, places, events, institutions, movements, and many other topics on the expanding frontier. The Settlement of America enables readers to consider multiple viewpoints (Native Americans, explorers, fur traders, settlers, immigrants, women, politicians, and businessmen); appreciate diverse historical perspectives; understand historical continuity and change; and recognize how the movement westward forever changed the national character.