Excursion through the Slave States, from Washington on the Potomac to the Frontier of Mexico

With Sketches of Popular Manners and Geological Notices

Bibliographic Data

ID19944976
AuthorsGeorge William Featherstonhaugh (corresponding author)
Year2011
Publication date2011-09-22
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueExcursion Through the Slave States, from Washington on the Potomac to the Frontier of Mexico (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/cbo9781139059268
OpenAlexW2000552825
Open LibraryOL34458771M
ISBN9781139059268
LanguageEN
Citations received4

The English geologist George William Featherstonhaugh (1780–1866) was commissioned to undertake a survey of the Arkansas territory in America, and spent 1834–5 travelling through the southern slave states to reach his destination. He was shocked by the slave system of the south, saying he 'had never seen so revolting a sight'. When he began to write about his experiences, Featherstonhaugh was urged not to publish his work in the US, as his opinions might 'irritate a powerful interest', and his manuscript remained unpublished until 1844, after his return to England. His lively two-volume account of his adventures contains a fascinating mixture of scientific and sociological detail. It is a closely observed record of Southern society in the period before the Civil War that candidly documents the violence experienced by Black slaves, Native Americans and frontier settlers. Volume 1 describes the Alleghany Mountains, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri

Adventure · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Excursion · Fountain · Frontier · Geologist · George (robot) · Period (music) · Political science · Spanish Civil War · American Environmental and Regional History · American History and Culture · Archaeology and Natural History · History · Law · description and travel · Frontier and pioneer life · Southern states

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