The American National State and the Early West by William H. Bergmann (review)

Book Reviews 109 The essays in this volume also portray Native Peoples as active participants in their history. In Daniel Ingram’s essay on the negotiations at Fort Niagara, the Seneca are astute, aware political actors choosing alliances that most benefitted themselves in a changed world. Sarah Miller’s essay on the post-Revolutionary Ohio country keenly demonstrates the way violence was used as a political tool on both sides of the frontier. The theme of Native participation and power in this world is buttressed by the use of Native source material, which will also provide some groundwork for important methodological debates. Contested Territories is well edited, and all the essays are provocative and well written. Editors Charles Beatty-Medina and Melissa Reinhart (who also contributes an essay) have written a useful introduction that includes a fine historiography of the Lower Great Lakes region. Craig Miller Penn College, Williamsport William H. Bergmann. The American National State and the Early West. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. 288. Bibliography. Index. Maps. Notes. Cloth, $90.00. Many years ago I had a student in a US history class who always referred to the Old Northwest Territory as the “Big Ten” states – which was true in the early 1980s. This region, the trans-Appalachian West, is subject of this volume by William Bergmann, assistant professor of history at Slippery Rock University, and he examines how the area got so “big.” The “west” is problematic to define, but as a region it has continued to move and change location. Anglo Americans followed the sun, moving west to new lands and new adventures, taking along their pasts, including their expectations and relationships with the federal government, an entity still quite new. Bergmann examines the role the federal government played in settlement and advancement of the transAppalachian West. This monograph, which began as a dissertation, surveys the federal government’s role in expansionism and state-building through military power and economics policies in the region from 1775 through 1815. Anglo American settlers wanted protection from Native Americans, they wanted roads to travel and upon which they could rely to move their goods to market, they wanted land offices and post offices. These 110 The Michigan Historical Review institutions brought not only federal powers into the region; it also brought money—a key element in the growth and stabilization of the trans-Appalachian West. Divided into six chapters with an introduction and an epilogue, one of the highlights of the book is that footnotes appear at the bottom of each page, which makes for handy reference. An array of primary sources from archives in the United States and Canada, together with a plethora of secondary sources, were utilized in preparation of this manuscript and offer a tantalizing look at the region’s formalization. The chapters follow a chronological progression, beginning with the British and the American Revolution and, as Bergmann describes it, the “property war” between the Anglos and Natives. The author reviews major battles, treaties, and generals including Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, the battle of Fallen Timbers, and the Treaty of Greenville. Anglo settlers took over the land, and British military and economic influence withdrew into Canada. Federal institutions moved West as described by Bergmann in chapters titled “A Bordered Land,” “Webs of Commerce,” and “Partnerships.” The economy was strengthened by the presence of federal institutions such as the post office and Indian agents and the military. Market capitalism ruled the day. Bergman quotes author Stephen Rockwell, “Big government won the West.” (p. 255). With its presentation of facts and the organizational theme of the federal government’s role in the development of the West, this book will be of interest to readers who seek a detail-filled text and a new look at history of those former Big Ten states. Patricia Ann Owens Lawrenceville, Illinois David Gardner Chardavoyne. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: People, Law, and Politics. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2012. Pp. 440. Appendices. Bibliographical notes. Illustrations. Index. Photographs. Cloth, $39.95. Encouraged by the Federal Judicial Center, America’s federal, district, and circuit courts have been actively working to record their histories for both...