Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson
The Founding Fathers knew almost nothing of that huge segment of North America bounded by New Mexico, the Pacific Coast, the Arctic, and the Mississippi. It became Thomas Jefferson's task, eagerly embraced, to dispel that ignorance. Here, as in so many other fields, he moved with a major curren...
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:greatplainsquarterly-2642 2023-11-12T04:13:51+01:00 Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson McColley, Robert 1982-04-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1643 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/2642/viewcontent/BR_McColley.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1643 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/2642/viewcontent/BR_McColley.pdf Great Plains Quarterly Other International and Area Studies text 1982 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T10:57:02Z The Founding Fathers knew almost nothing of that huge segment of North America bounded by New Mexico, the Pacific Coast, the Arctic, and the Mississippi. It became Thomas Jefferson's task, eagerly embraced, to dispel that ignorance. Here, as in so many other fields, he moved with a major current of his age: thousands of Americans, Spaniards, Russians, Canadians, and other British were converging on the trans-Mississippi West. Jefferson's awareness of this competition grew with his knowledge of the area and increased his conviction that the United States, not Europe, should control North America. This engaging history falls into three parts. The first sketches the education and career of Thomas Jefferson to the eve of his presidency. We learn of Jefferson's teachers, books, and habits of mind. More particularly we learn of his desire to vindicate the plants, animals, and aboriginal Indians of America from the charge of degeneration abroad among European scientists. With backing from the American Philosophical Society, Jefferson drew up in 1793 an elaborate set of instructions to guide the western explorations of the French naturalist Andre Michaux. These were strikingly similar to those he later wrote for Lewis and Clark. Had Michaux not changed his plans in order to oblige the overseas policies of revolutionary France, the geographical mysteries of "the Stony Mountains" might have been solved a decade earlier. The middle portion of this book covers J efferson's presidency, during which he exercised his greatest influence on both the gathering of knowledge and the claiming of western territories. The publication of Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Voyages in 1801 and Spain's closing of the Mississippi the next year impressed on Jefferson the urgency of controlling the Mississippi Valley and scouting the unknown lands beyond. By keeping his description of the Lewis and Clark expedition brief, the author has space for a fascinating account of its planning, organization, and record keeping. The last third of the book ... Text Arctic University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL Arctic Pacific Indian Fuller ENVELOPE(162.350,162.350,-77.867,-77.867) Dunbar ENVELOPE(-60.199,-60.199,-62.473,-62.473) Wilkinson ENVELOPE(-66.200,-66.200,-66.817,-66.817) |
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Open Polar |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnebraskali |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Other International and Area Studies |
spellingShingle |
Other International and Area Studies McColley, Robert Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
topic_facet |
Other International and Area Studies |
description |
The Founding Fathers knew almost nothing of that huge segment of North America bounded by New Mexico, the Pacific Coast, the Arctic, and the Mississippi. It became Thomas Jefferson's task, eagerly embraced, to dispel that ignorance. Here, as in so many other fields, he moved with a major current of his age: thousands of Americans, Spaniards, Russians, Canadians, and other British were converging on the trans-Mississippi West. Jefferson's awareness of this competition grew with his knowledge of the area and increased his conviction that the United States, not Europe, should control North America. This engaging history falls into three parts. The first sketches the education and career of Thomas Jefferson to the eve of his presidency. We learn of Jefferson's teachers, books, and habits of mind. More particularly we learn of his desire to vindicate the plants, animals, and aboriginal Indians of America from the charge of degeneration abroad among European scientists. With backing from the American Philosophical Society, Jefferson drew up in 1793 an elaborate set of instructions to guide the western explorations of the French naturalist Andre Michaux. These were strikingly similar to those he later wrote for Lewis and Clark. Had Michaux not changed his plans in order to oblige the overseas policies of revolutionary France, the geographical mysteries of "the Stony Mountains" might have been solved a decade earlier. The middle portion of this book covers J efferson's presidency, during which he exercised his greatest influence on both the gathering of knowledge and the claiming of western territories. The publication of Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Voyages in 1801 and Spain's closing of the Mississippi the next year impressed on Jefferson the urgency of controlling the Mississippi Valley and scouting the unknown lands beyond. By keeping his description of the Lewis and Clark expedition brief, the author has space for a fascinating account of its planning, organization, and record keeping. The last third of the book ... |
format |
Text |
author |
McColley, Robert |
author_facet |
McColley, Robert |
author_sort |
McColley, Robert |
title |
Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
title_short |
Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
title_full |
Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
title_fullStr |
Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
title_full_unstemmed |
Review of Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello By Donald Jackson |
title_sort |
review of thomas jefferson and the stony mountains: exploring the west from monticello by donald jackson |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
1982 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1643 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/2642/viewcontent/BR_McColley.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(162.350,162.350,-77.867,-77.867) ENVELOPE(-60.199,-60.199,-62.473,-62.473) ENVELOPE(-66.200,-66.200,-66.817,-66.817) |
geographic |
Arctic Pacific Indian Fuller Dunbar Wilkinson |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Pacific Indian Fuller Dunbar Wilkinson |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Great Plains Quarterly |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1643 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/2642/viewcontent/BR_McColley.pdf |
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