Early Appalachian History: Early Settlers In The Appalachian Mountains

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared an unconditional war on poverty in the United States and the most photographed area was the Appalachia region. Many of the photographs intentional or not, became a visual definition of the Appalachia region. The images have drawn from the poorest areas and people to gain support for the war on poverty, but came to represent the entirety of the region. The point of the Looking at Appalachia project is to explore the diversity of Appalachia and to establish a visual counter point. (Home - Looking at Appalachia.) The three images I am going to analyze are challenge some of the stereotypes put on the Appalachia region. I believe my images challenge the stereotype that all Appalachian people do is work hard, go to church, and don’t have time for anything besides those two things.

The multidimensional expression “hillbilly” carries different cultural significances throughout the book Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. First, Vance utilizes the term “hillbilly” to refer to the working class white Americans of Scots-Irish descent who have no college degree (3). Second, Vance uses the term hillbilly to refer to a group of people from a specific geographic area, namely the area of the Appalachian Mountains. According to Vance, the area stretches from Alabama to Georgia in the South to Ohio to parts of New York in the north (4). Third, hillbilly indicates the way of life, behavior, or identity of the people of Greater Appalachia.

estled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and Allegheny Mountains, Rockingham County is located within the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Originally founded in 1778, Rockingham County has become a historical community committed to implementing an economic strategy of attracting new business and industry that are compatible with the way of life in the Shenandoah Valley and assisting in the retention and expansion of existing companies (Rockingham County). Most commonly known for its beauty, Rockingham County is comprised of six metropolitan cities, of which Harrisonburg holds the county seat (Rockingham County).

During the 18th century the Irish slowly began their migration to America. Centuries of oppression from Protestant English rule had forced them to live very poor lives under strict rules, in some cases having to renounce their Catholic beliefs and having to abandon their Gaelic

By the year 1700, family demographics and religion of New England were completely dissimilar to those of the Chesapeake region. The differences in unification and society varied so much between the two settlements due to who settled there. Climate and geographic features also shaped the colonies as they formed and expanded.

In Uneven Ground, the author Ronald D. Eller narrates the economic, political, and social change of Appalachia after World War II. He writes “persistent unemployment and poverty set Appalachia off as a social and economic problem area long before social critic Michael Harrington drew attention to the region as part of the “other America” in 1962.”(pp.2) Some of the structural problems stated by Eller include problems of land abuse, political corruption, economic shortsightedness, and the loss of community and culture; personally view the economic myopia as being the most daunting.

Frontiersmen began traveling towards the Appalachian Mountains and over other mountains. However, Indian chief, Pontiac, led a violent rebellion to push Britain out of America, but Britain successfully subdued the rebellion. As a result, Britain issue the Proclamation of 1763, dictating that Americans were allowed to colonize beyond the mountains. The prospect of discovering new lands put a vision into the American people to march forward.

On august 1585 the first colonists of england have arrived at roanoke and built a fort in 2 weeks. 2 months later the colonists ran out of supplies. They sent a rescue mission to england to bring supplies. It has been many months but the people that were sent did not come back. On 1890 most colonists decided to abandon roanoke and go to croatan island to seek for supplies. They wrote on the trees croton and before they could finish writing croton on another tree. The spanish had attacked them with full rage. The colonists had enough time to run and escape to croton but they did not know that the spanish were following them. The colonists were frightened so much that they were shaking. They asked the native americans to give them shelter and

The Appalachians span over a distance of 1,600 miles, ranging across 14 states, from Newfoundland in the North, to Alabama in the South. The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains on the North American continent. With forest, comes forest fires, some natural and some prescribed by humans. In order to reduce the calamitous damage caused by natural wildfires, the technique of prescribed fires is used. This is done by diminishing the amounts of trees, shrubs, and brush in the intended area. By doing this, new native plant growth is encouraged and it helps maintain some plant and animal species that depend on the periodic fires. With this man made force comes numerous effects on vegetation, wildlife, and the human impact.

Despite the fact that they both came from England, the New England and Chesapeake settlers displayed different characteristics in their societies. The cause of this development originated back to the reasons why they came to America. The Chesapeake settlers came looking for a religious safe haven while the New Englanders were on a quest for raw materials. With two distinct outlooks, their societies grew with differences in foundations, social formation, and economic systems.

When thinking about the first settlers of the United States, the Thirteen Colonies come to mind. Jamestown was honored as being the first town to successfully settle upon the newly discovered land. What most people do not know is that there was technically fourteen original colonies, and the Roanoke settlement was the first. In 1586, Queen Elizabeth I instructed a group of around one hundred and fifteen men and women to start a new life on the uncivilized land. After some time of being on the island, supplies were running short. John White and Ralph Lane, the colonists governors, sailed back to Britain to gather the necessary goods, but ran into issues when trying to return. A naval battle between Spain and Britain restricted White and Lane

In The United States of Appalachia, by Jeff Biggers, Chapter Six, The great American Industrial Saga. Biggers writes in regards to the Appalachia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Women and children of the Appalachia worked with cotton, coal, and timber while experiencing a life of deplorable conditions, long hours, and without enough pay to make a living.

Pennsylvania is a state situated in the middle-Atlantic regions and north eastern part of United States. The Appalachian Mountains passes in the middle of Pennsylvania. It is the sixth densely populated, 33rd largest and 6th known state from 50 united states. It is one of original 13 colonies, William Penn was the one founded Pennsylvania as a haven for his associated Quakers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania capital, was the location of the both first and the second Continental Congresses in the year 1774 and 1775, the end of which brought the Announcement of Independence, leading to the American Revolution. Pennsylvania became the second state after the war, where Delaware was the first, to approve the United States Constitution. Pennsylvania

It’s hard to think about living in pre modern times, with all the technology we have today. I have heard stories from my grandmother about when she was a young lady in Hazard. That was while coal mining was the big thing though. So for all my research I had to turn to other sources. When I think of pre modern I think of old television shows such as “Little House on the Para ire”. Simple times before industrialization made its appearance. In this essay, I am going to describe and compare the ways of pre modern Appalachia to nowadays. I am going to include topics such as: economic activities, transportation, housing and standards of living, women’s and family life, church, communities and social gatherings, and

Jamestown was the very first English permanent settlement in America. It is also known for lots of historical archaeological finds. The town's church was a burial ground reserved for only prominent figures of the town, was excavated a few years ago, but only recently did researchers analyse four sets of remains that were dug up previously from the burial ground behind the 1603 church.