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The first comprehensive history of the Lower Chickasaws in the Savannah River Valley Edward J. Cashin, the preeminent historian of colonial Georgia history, offers an account of the Lower Chickasaws, who settled on the Savannah River near Augusta in the early eighteenth century and remained an integral part of the region until the American Revolution. Fierce allies to the English settlers, the Chickasaws served as trading partners, loyal protectors, and diplomatic representatives to other southeastern tribes. In the absence of their benevolence, the English settlements would not have developed as rapidly or securely in the Savannah River Valley. Aided by his unique access to the modern Chick...
Lachlan McGillivray knew firsthand of the frontier's natural wealth and strategic importance to England, France, and Spain, because he lived deep within it among his wife's people, the Creeks. Until he returned to his native Scotland in 1782, he witnessed; and often participated in the major events shaping the region--from decisive battles to major treaties and land cessions. He was both a consultant to the leaders of colonial Georgia and South Carolina and their emissary to the great chiefs of the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. Cashin discusses the aims and ambitions of the frontier's many interest groups, profiles the figures who catalyzed the power struggles, and explains events from the vantage points of traders and Native Americans. He also offers information about the rise of the southern elite, for in the decade before he left America, McGillivray was a successful planter and slave trader, a popular politician, and a member of the Savannah gentry.
In Travels, the celebrated 1791 account of the "Old Southwest," William Bartram recorded the natural world he saw around him but, rather incredibly, omitted any reference to the epochal events of the American Revolution. Edward J. Cashin places Bartram in the context of his times and explains his conspicuous avoidance of people, places, and events embroiled in revolutionary fervor. Cashin suggests that while Bartram documented the natural world for plant collector John Fothergill, he wrote Travels for an entirely different audience. Convinced that Providence directed events for the betterment of mankind and that the Constitutional Convention would produce a political model for the rest of the world, Bartram offered Travels as a means of shaping the new country. Cashin illuminates the convictions that motivated Bartram-that if Americans lived in communion with nature, heeded the moral law, and treated the people of the interior with respect, then America would be blessed with greatness.
These essays look at southern social customs within a single city in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, the volume focuses on paternalism between masters and slaves, husbands and wives, elites and the masses, and industrialists and workers. How Augusta's millworkers, homemakers, and others resisted, exploited, or endured the constraints of paternalism reveals the complex interplay between race, class, and gender. One essay looks at the subordinating effects of paternalism on women in the Old South--slave, free black, and white--and the coping strategies available to each group. Another focuses on the Knights of Labor union in Augusta. With their trappings of chivalr...
Confederate scout and sharpshooter Berry Greenwood Benson witnessed the first shot fired on Fort Sumter, retreated with Lee's Army to its surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and missed little of the action in between. This memoir of his service is a remarkable narrative, filled with the minutiae of the soldier's life and paced by a continual succession of battlefield anecdotes. Three main stories emerge from Benson's account: his reconnaissance exploits, his experiences in battle, and his escape from prison. Though not yet eighteen years old when he left his home in Augusta, Georgia, to join the army, Benson was soon singled out for the abilities that would serve him well as a scout. Not onl...
For example, Bethesda sustained the state during the dark years of 1740 to 1742 when Spanish invaders threatened the infant colony." "Whitefield's "Beloved Bethesda" has seen its graduates take their places in leadership positions throughout the state, and Savannah's residents have sustained the institution. In that respect, the story of Bethesda is also a history of Savannah."--BOOK JACKET.
This collection of 17 biographies provides a unique opportunity for the reader to go beyond the popular heroes of the American Revolution and discover the diverse populace that inhabited the colonies during this pivotal point in history.
"While I was growing up in Augusta, my teachers skipped over the history of this region. As the result, we had the feeling that nothing of importance happened here. I began searching through local history while at Fordham University in New York City, and have been at it ever since. I soon realized that we had two histories, that which really happened and that which we supposed had happened. The two did not always correspond. [...] This collection of stories is about both the factual and the myths. It is written for Augusta people and their friends and for visitors to our town who want to know about our secrets. I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I did the telling of them." --From preface.