Indiana History

Indiana has long been inhabited by Native American peoples, and was part of the Mississippian cultural area.

The territory was claimed as part of the French empire until 1763. Following the Seven Years' War (generally known in the US as the "French and Indian War"), control of the area passed to Britain. In 1783, after the American Revolution, the area became part of the United States' Northwest Territory.

In 1816, Indiana was the 19th state admitted to the Union. As no slavery was allowed, it made an attractive destination for immigrants from Kentucky who disapproved of slavery.

At the outset of the American Civil War (1861 to 1865), Indiana was an enthusiastic contributor to the Union cause: more than three times as many men as Lincoln had called for volunteered. As the war went on with heavy casualties, war weariness did gradually begin to set in, and it was eventually necessary to introduce recruitment bounties and finally a draft (although 95% of Hoosiers who fought in the civil war were volunteers). over all Indiana supplied about 200,000 men to the Union army (about 15% of the state's entire population), and more than one in eight of these lost their lives during the war.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, industry began to arrive in Indiana which had previously been an agricultural state. This new industry included U.S. Steel and a number of automobile manufacturers. A testing facility for automobiles, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built in 1909, and from 1911 it has been the site of the famous Indianopolis 500.

Frontier Indiana (A History of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier)

By Reverend Andrew R. L. Cayton

Indiana University Press
Paperback (360 pages)

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Frontier Indiana

Andrew R. L. Cayton

"The research and scholarship that went into the work are excellent; so good, in fact, that the book should be on the required text list for all Transappalachian frontier courses." -- History

Cayton's lively new history of the frontier period in Indiana puts the focus on people, on how they lived, how they viewed their world, and what motivated them. Here are the stories of Sieur de Vincennes, John Francis Hamtramck, Little Turtle, Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison, Tenskwatawa, Calvin Fletcher -- along with many more familiar (and not so familiar) early Hoosiers.

Sales territory is worldwideA History of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier1996; 360 pages, 20 b& w photos, 2 maps, index, 6 x 9cloth 0-253-33048-3 $39.95 L / £28.50paper 0-253-21217-0 $18.95 t / £13.50

Early History of Indiana Limestone

By Ron Bell

AuthorHouse
Released: 2008-10-30
Paperback (164 pages)

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This book is taken from early newspaper reports about the events that occurred that changed the limestone of Bedford Indiana from an occassional quarried item that was hauled to market by ox team to thousands of train carloads of limestone being sent to locations all over the eastern part of the United States. The time period covered is from 1850, when all quarrying was accomplished with labor intensive hand tools, to 1900, when the industry was mainly operated by steam power and heavy duty machinery.Some discussion is made of early jobs that help "make the industry". These include the Chicago City Hall, Chicago Court House, Indiana State Capital, Vanderbilt Mansions, and stone shipped for use at Ellis Island and the Library of Congress.The book also cronicles some of the day to day problems, wage scales paid and improvements made in methods and machinery as they occurred in the industrry.

The Indiana Way: A State History

By James H. Madison PhD Indiana University Press Paperback (364 pages)	List Price: $20.95 Lowest New Price: $14.85 Lowest Used Price: $3.99 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 20:54 Pacific 5 Jul 2009 More Info) Click Here
Product Description: This book covers the history of the Hoosier State from prehistoric times to the present, paying particular attention to the social, economic, cultural, and political contexts in which the state's significant historical figures, both heroes and villains, played out their roles. Published by Indiana University Press and the Indiana Historical Society.

French Lick And West Baden Springs, IN (Postcard History Series)

By John Martin Smith

Arcadia Publishing
Released: 2007-06-18
Paperback (128 pages)

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During the heyday of spas, two luxurious hotels, owned by flamboyant competing visionaries, attracted the rich and famous to southern Indiana. Hotel guests came from throughout the United States in search of cures and pleasure. Among the many noted celebrities visiting the French Lick Springs and West Baden Springs Hotels were Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Al Capone, Joe Lewis, and professional golfer Walter Hagen, and the West Baden Springs Hotel was known as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” After years of neglect, the two hotels have been restored to their original splendor. Legalization of gambling and the building of a “riverboat” casino between the hotels have lured pleasureseekers to celebrate modernday opulence and recreation.

Indiana: A HISTORY

By Howard H. Peckham

University of Illinois Press
Paperback (224 pages)

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For much of Indiana's history, its distinctiveness has lain in its typicality. It has embodied--and continues to embody--values and behavior that are specifically American. In the late eighteenth century Indiana was the heart of the Old Northwest, a vast area conceived as a preserve where independent farmers and their families could live free from the shadow of slavery.

During the Civil War, the state found itself divided, with Indianans' allegiances split between Southern partisans and zealous Yankees. Throughout this period, the workshops and farms of Indiana continued to provide the growing nation with food and other necessities. Countless small towns prospered; Indianapolis grew, and Gary, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, became synonymous with steel production, symbolizing the industrial might of America. Readers all over the country embraced the writings of Indianans such as James Whitcomb Riley and Booth Tarkington, while Indiana's painters disseminated iconic and idyllic images of America.

This comprehensive history traces the history of the Hoosier state, revealing its most significant contributions to the nation as a whole, while also exploring the unique character of its land and people. Howard H. Peckham relates recent changes in Indiana as a variety of ethnic and racial groups have come seeking a share in the good life, enriching and redefining this ever-changing state for the new millennium.

This Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana (Quarry Books)

By Carl E. Kramer

Quarry Books
Hardcover (664 pages)

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Clark County, Indiana, has grown from a handful of small settlements and scattered farms at the Falls of the Ohio into a sprawling metropolitan region. Yet, as Carl E. Kramer describes in this wonderful new history, significant continuities help define the county. Middle-class business owners and farmers still serve as its leaders. Jeffersonian democracy, emphasizing localism and frugality, remains a central political value. Interlocking kinship, friendship, and associational networks, fostered by decades of demographic stability, remain a potent social and political force. The Ohio River maintains its powerful economic and cultural influence, and the paths of pioneer roads shape local development. These forces and shared experiences have created a close-knit community with a strong sense of place.

The Miami Indians of Indiana: A Persistent People, 1654-1994

By Stewart Rafert Indiana Historical Society Paperback (352 pages)	List Price: $16.95 Lowest New Price: $10.89 Lowest Used Price: $7.09 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 20:54 Pacific 5 Jul 2009 More Info) Click Here
Product Description: The book explores the history and culture of the Miami Indians, who have fought for many years to gain tribal status from the U.S. government. This volume will appeal to a general audience as well as serious students of tribal history interested in the experience of a North American Indian tribal community over three and a half centuries.

Early Indiana Trails and Surveys (Indiana Historical Society Publications, V. 6, No. 3.)

By George R. Wilson

Indiana Historical Society
Paperback (114 pages)

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This is a reprint of a book first published by the Indiana Historical Society in 1919, written by the former Dubois County surveyor, George R. Wilson. The book features invaluable information on early Indiana paths and settlements, including historic trails such as the Buffalo Trace, the Yellow Banks Trace, the Red Banks Trail, and Whetzel’s Trace. Also featured are discoveries made by surveyors during their work, including the location of French Lick and West Baden Springs. An index of names of people as well as names of roads, traces, and surveys is included.

Indiana History Projects: 30 Cool, Activities, Crafts, Experiments & More for Kids to Do!

By Carole Marsh

Gallopade International
Paperback (32 pages; 1)

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Indiana History: A Book of Readings

Indiana University Press Hardcover (576 pages)	List Price: $44.95 Lowest New Price: $44.95 Lowest Used Price: $12.46 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 20:54 Pacific 5 Jul 2009 More Info) Click Here
Product Description: These readings provide an overview of Indiana history based upon primary and secondary acounts of significant events and personalities. This treasure trove includes work by George Rogers Clark, Emma Lou Thornbrough, George Ade, Dan Wakefield, and many more.

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