Borderland Narratives - (Contested Boundaries) by Andrew K Frank & A Glenn Crothers

About the Book

Frank and Crothers have gathered ten essays to explore the newer, more capacious applications of borderlands study, with a particular emphasis on the Ohio Valley--which, in its own uneasy placement between the traditional north/south sectional divide, becomes a case study in what can be gained by placing the borderlands concept at the center of inquiry. By crossing geographic, chronological, and methodological boundaries, the volume shows various ways the borderlands concept can enhance scholars' understanding of political, cultural, religious, and racial interactions throughout North America.

Book Synopsis

"Breathes new life into the borderlands debate by reinforcing that 'borderlands' are more than mere locations--they are also imagined spaces and metaphorical tools with which scholars can explore the commonalities of human experiences across time and place."--Kristo fer Ray, author of Middle Tennessee, 1775-1825: Progress and Popular Democracy on the Southwestern Frontier "Offers a wide-ranging tour of some of North America's most intriguing borderlands contexts. A smart and timely collection."--Brian DeLay, editor of North American Borderlands

Broadening the idea of "borderlands" beyond its traditional geographic meaning, this volume features new ways of characterizing the political, cultural, religious, and racial fluidity of early America. It extends the concept to regions not typically seen as borderlands and demonstrates how the term has been used in recent years to describe unstable spaces where people, cultures, and viewpoints collide.

The essays include an exploration of the diplomacy and motives that led colonial and Native leaders in the Ohio Valley--including those from the Shawnee and Cherokee--to cooperate and form coalitions; a contextualized look at the relationship between African Americans and Seminole Indians on the Florida borderlands; and an assessment of the role that animal husbandry played in the economies of southeastern Indians. An essay on the experiences of those who disappeared in the early colonial southwest highlights the magnitude of destruction on these emergent borderlands and features a fresh perspective on Cabeza de Vaca. Yet another essay examines the experiences of French missionary priests in the trans-Appalachian West, adding a new layer of understanding to places ordinarily associated with the evangelical Protestant revivals of the Second Great Awakening.

Collectively these essays focus on marginalized peoples and reveal how their experiences and decisions lie at the center of the history of borderlands. They also look at the process of cultural mixing and the crossing of religious and racial boundaries. A timely assessment of the dynamic field of borderland studies, Borderland Narratives argues that the interpretive model of borders is essential to understanding the history of colonial North America.

A volume in the series Contested Boundaries, edited by Gene Allen Smith

Review Quotes

"This important collection of essays reveals new insights and asks potentially fruitful questions about borderland spaces between 1500 and 1850. . . Essential."--Choice "An important collection. . . . Borderland Narratives will continue to push historians to reevaluate and question our assumptions about the crossroads of life in #vastearlyamerica."--H-Net Reviews "An impressive volume that aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the past, present, and future of borderlands scholarship."--Journal of Southern History "Frank and Crothers argue in favor of a more expansive definition of 'borderlands.' . . . The analytics of boundaries, whether physical, geographical, ethnic, legal, temporal, or gender-based, can definitely benefit from the techniques employed by these contributors."--H-AmIndian

About the Author

Andrew K. Frank is the Allen Morris Associate Professor of History at Florida State University. He is the author or editor of several books including Creeks and Southerners: Biculturalism on the Early American Frontier. A. Glenn Crothers, associate professor of history at the University of Louisville, is the author of Quakers Living in the Lion's Mouth: The Society of Friends in Northern Virginia, 1730-1865.