Perilous waters settlers, swamps, and the state, 1775-1920 / Anthony E. Carlson.
| Author/creator | Carlson, Anthony E. |
| Format | Electronic |
| Publication Info | Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, 2026. |
| Description | pages cm |
| Supplemental Content | Full text available from JSTOR University of North Carolina Press Publisher Collection (2026) |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Ditches of empire -- Swamps, nature, and disease in America, 1775-1820 -- The foundation of all correct tillage: drainage, farm improvement, and the state, 1830-1865 -- An empire of ditches: settlers, railroads, and wet prairies in the valley of the Red River of the North, 1877-1886 -- Settler activism and state intervention: draining the Red River Valley, 1886-1900 -- Wasted lands, wasted people: eugenics, drainage, and the legacy of Nathaniel Southgate Shaler -- A construction agency: the Reclamation Service and settler home creation, 1902-1910 -- Consulting advisors: federal drainage engineers and settlers, 1902-1913 -- We opposed the draining of our so-called swamp lands. |
| Abstract | "Wetlands, particularly swamps, have evoked contradictory responses from different groups in the United States from the early republic to the end of World War I. White, enslaved, and Indigenous peoples alternately envisioned swamps as future agricultural paradises, uninhabitable wastelands, portals to freedom, spaces to gather vital resources, eugenic sanctuaries, and future homes for settlers. This contested, evolving thinking shaped how Americans interacted with swamps, and Perilous Waters addresses how those interactions influenced their management. Anthony E. Carlson shows how settlers demonized swamps as one of the gravest environmental impediments to agricultural expansion and the establishment of secure and stable communities. In doing so, they enlisted the knowledge, resources, and authority of the state to organize institutions that enabled drainage and erased any vestiges of prior occupation and usage. By the mid-nineteenth century, drainage became a paramount public policy objective, inaugurating new social institutions and mobilizing state resources to assist settlers in fashioning dry, healthy, and domesticated landscapes. After 1900, all levels of government worked to implement cooperative social institutions and systemize environmental and technological knowledge to facilitate drainage and accelerate the transformation of the nation's wet spaces into farms and crop fields"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2025045127 |
| ISBN | 9781469694795 cloth |
| ISBN | 9781469694801 paperback |
| ISBN | epub |
| ISBN |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |