The United States of Appalachia : How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture, and Enlightenment to America

The word Appalachia is seldom uttered in the same sentence with the word enlightenment. More likely, images of the film Deliverance, corncob chomping grannies, or bonafide gun-toting hillbillies come to mind. However, in truth, Appalachia has been a cradle of US freedom, independence, and enlightenment, as well as a region of progressive social history, literature, and music. The United States of Appalachia reveals to us how so many of our nation's basic freedoms and founding moments grew out of the Appalachias. From the first declaration of independence to the beginnings of folk music, literature, and poetry, Jeff Biggers illuminates with humor, intelligence, and clarity, the many reasons why we all need a lesson in Appalachian history. This fascinating in-depth history celebrates Appalachian heroes from Nina Simone to Cormac McCarthy, challenging traditional stereotypes of the American South. Few places in the United States confound and fascinate Americans like Appalachia, yet no other area has been so markedly mischaracterized by the mass media. Stereotypes of hillbillies and rednecks repeatedly appear in representations of the region, but few, if any, of its many heroes, visionaries, or innovators are ever referenced. Make no mistake, they are legion: from Anne Royall, America's first female muckraker, to Sequoyah, a Cherokee mountaineer who invented the first syllabary in modern times, and international divas Nina Simone and Bessie Smith, as well as writers Cormac McCarthy, Edward Abbey, and Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck, Appalachia has contributed mightily to American culture—and politics. Not only did eastern Tennessee boast the country's first antislavery newspaper, Appalachians also established the first District of Washington as a bold counterpoint to British rule. With humor, intelligence, and clarity, Jeff Biggers reminds us how Appalachians have defined and shaped the United States we know today. Few places in the United States confound and fascinate Americans like Appalachia, yet no other area has been so markedly mischaracterized by the mass media. Stereotypes of hillbillies and rednecks repeatedly appear in representations of the region, but few, if any, of its many heroes, visionaries, or innovators are ever referenced. Make no mistake, they are legion: from Anne Royall, America's first female muckraker, to Sequoyah, a Cherokee mountaineer who invented the first syllabary in modern times, and international divas Nina Simone and Bessie Smith, as well as writers Cormac McCarthy, Edward Abbey, and Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck, Appalachia has contributed mightily to American culture — and politics. Not only did eastern Tennessee boast the country's first antislavery newspaper, Appalachians also established the first District of Washington as a bold counterpoint to British rule. With humor, intelligence, and clarity, Jeff Biggers reminds us how Appalachians have defined and shaped the United States we know today. The word Appalachia is seldom uttered in the same sentence with the word enlightenment. More likely, images of the film corncob chomping grannies, or bonafide gun-toting hillbillies come to mind. However, in truth, Appalachia has been a cradle of US freedom, independence, and enlightenment, as well as a region of progressive social history, literature, and music. __The United States of Appalachia__ Contents 10 Preface 12 Prologue: Rank Strangers 20 One: The Trail of Words 44 Two: The First Washington, D.C. 64 Three: Down from the Mountain 86 Four: The Emancipators 100 Five : All the News That’s Fit to Print 122 Six : The Great American Industrial Saga 154 Seven: We Shall Overcome 188 Epilogue: We Are All Appalachians 214 Acknowledgments 232 Bibliographic Notes 234 Index 246 "Few regions in the U.S. confound and fascinate Americans like Appalachia; yet no other region has been so misrepresented by the mass media. With humor, intelligence, and clarity, Jeff Biggers shows how a remarkable procession of innovators from the hills of Appalachia helped to define and shape America."--Pg. [2]--Cover Challenges stereotypes to profile Appalachia as a cradle of American independence and artistry, tracing the region's history to show that many of the nation's freedoms and founding moments found their origins there