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 (History of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier)

By Reverend Andrew R. L. Cayton

Indiana University Press
Paperback (360 pages)

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At Home In The Hoosier Hills: Agriculture, Politics, And Religion In Southern Indiana, 1810-1870 (Midwestern History and Culture)

By Richard F. Nation

Indiana University Press
Hardcover (274 pages)

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Product Description:
This book explores the lives and worldviews of Indiana’s southern hill-country residents during much of the 19th century. Focusing on local institutions, political, economic, and religious, it gives voice to the plain farmers of the region and reveals the world as they saw it. For them, faith in local institutions reflected a distrust of distant markets and politicians. Localism saw its expression in the Democratic Party’s anti-federalist strain, in economic practices such as "safety-first" farming which focused on taking care of the family first, and in non-perfectionist Christianity. Localism was both a means of resisting changes and the basis of a worldview that helped Hoosiers of the hill country negotiate these changes.

New Albany (IN) (Images of America)

By Gregg Seidl

Arcadia Publishing
Released: 2006-07-05
Paperback (128 pages)

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Until the railroads extended their steel ribbons westward, people and cargo traveling to America’s frontier went by flatboat, canoe, or paddle-wheeled steamer. The falls of the Ohio River at Louisville presented a considerable obstacle to this floating traffic, and vessels traveling on this major waterway were forced to portage their cargo around the turbulent waters. In 1812, three enterprising brothers from New York, Abner, Joel, and Nathaniel Scribner, bought land at the western end of the rapids and named their new settlement New Albany in honor of the capital of their native state. Their village became the head of downriver navigation on the Ohio and evolved from a backwoods settlement into Indiana’s largest city, a lively river town where steamboats, textiles, sheet music, automobiles, and pastries have all been manufactured. Natural disasters have periodically changed the face of the city, but New Albany has always recovered due to the determination of its

citizens. This collection of vintage images portrays the triumphs and tragedies of these residents.

The Indiana Way: A State History (Indiana)

By James H. Madison Indiana University Press Paperback (364 pages)	List Price: $20.95 Lowest New Price: $15.13 Lowest Used Price: $8.70 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 11:37 Pacific 10 Oct 2008 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.

A Stupendous Effort: The 87th Indiana in the War of the Rebellion

By Jack K. Overmyer

Indiana University Press
Hardcover (274 pages)

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Indiana, 1816 to 1850: The Pioneer Era (History of Indiana)

By Donald Francis Carmony Indiana University Press Paperback (924 pages)	List Price: $29.95 Lowest New Price: $22.99 Lowest Used Price: $19.98 Usually ships in 24 hours (As of 11:37 Pacific 10 Oct 2008 More Info) Click Here
Product Description: This volume explores the political, economic, agricultural, and educational developments in the early years of the nineteenth state. Carmony’s book also describes how and why Indiana developed as it did during its formative years and its role as a member of the United States. Volume 2 of The History of Indiana, copublished with the Indiana Historical Bureau.

Indiana County (PA) (Postcard History Series)

By John F. Busovicki

Arcadia Publishing
Paperback (128 pages)

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Product Description:
Indiana County was little more than a collection of forests and sparse settlements when it was formed in 1803. At the center of the county lay the area that was to become the city of Indiana, a community built on land donated by George Clymer, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Over the next one hundred fifty years, the county embraced the growth of numerous settlements, farms, logging operations, small businesses, and a booming coal industry that fueled the railroads of western Pennsylvania. With scenes of rolling hills and railroads, mining towns and main streets, from Rossiter to Saltsburg, Indiana County celebrates the regionís bicentennial through nearly two hundred vintage postcards from the first half of the twentieth century. ÝÝ

The Last Blackrobe of Indiana and the Potawatomi Trail of Death

By John William McMullen

Charles River Press
Released: 2006-12-15
Paperback (422 pages)

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From the author of Roman: Unparalleled Outrage comes the true story of French attorney-turned missionary priest, Benjamin Petit, and his mission to the Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. Under the urging of Bishop Simon Brute, Petit joined the northern Indiana Potawatomi tribes in 1837, a year before their forced removal west. McMullen retells the incredible journey of Petit, who traveled with the Potawatomi and became part of their story.

The Price of Patriotism: Indiana County, Pennsylvania and the Civil War

By W. Wayne Smith

Burd Street Pr
Hardcover (124 pages)

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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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