West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776

There are different lenses for studying history. For early North American history (at least for Americans) the focus is overwhelmingly on the eastern seaboard, its colonies, and the road to revolution. This book helps fill in other pieces of the puzzle that were going on at about the same time as the revolution. There\’s a discussion of early land speculation on and beyond the Appalachian Mountains (which was a factor in the war itself and Washington\’s personal life). There\’s talk of multiple Indian tribes and how their political and economic future was reshaped by the 1763 treaty of the Seven Years\’ War, which put some of them under greater or lesser control of particular monarchs. I particularly liked the maps showing how certain tribes suddenly gained or lost trading partners, which was a sort of overlay on more traditional maps of which king claimed which land. There\’s talk of the Spanish expansion in California as they began to colonize modern San Francisco, and the dangerous expeditions and raids they were involved in. Then there\’s discussion of how the Russians were heavily involved in exploring Alaska to hunt for furs, and how they repeatedly clashed with the local tribes in an echo of what was happening on the east coast. Amusingly there\’s a section on Spanish paranoia about the Russian threat to their north. \”Sire, see this map?! The Russians are practically here already!\” So, this book helps provide a perspective that I knew little about despite studying early American history. I had also recently read a history of Astoria, an ill-fated attempt to colonize what\’s now Oregon, so this book ties in well with that.

The author does a great job shedding light on events that are local as well as large in scope. It was fascinating to read about the local Native American tribes and how they were affected by the politics of world empires upon the West. I was especially interested in the Lakota\’s claim of the Black Hills, which was very informative. My only complaint was that as the author told the story of each topic he jumped around time quite a bit and made it hard to follow chronologically. And, at times he seemed to drift away from 1776, so don\’t expect the book to be purely about that time period. However, this book gave great insight into life in the west and how those people were affected by elements such as the weather, early trading among natives and foreigners, geography (like why the Black Hills were ideal), and animals (good read on beavers).

When I was in school, 1700\’s history was all about the thirteen colonies and their eventual independence. The rest of the continent was ignored, and any activities there assumed to be of no consequence. Saunt shows that the colonies were a minor story in a continent of amazing long-distance trade and interaction between the native peoples. Along with those activities, sophisticated on their own, was the movement into the country of the Russians, Spanish, and French, all from different directions, to compete with the English, and all seeking to claim territory of completely unknown size and geography. This book is an eye-opener as to how the landscape was discovered, partitioned, and the interactions with the native peoples that have colored our opinions as a nation until today. Read this book and change your knowledge of the early history of the United States.

A fascinating read! Having purchased this book for a Seminar on Early America, this book shows the events that are transpiring outside of the North East. We see the Lakota and their claim to the Black Hills, of San Diego and San Francisco. It sheds light on areas that are often ignored in the context of 1776, as they were technically outside of America. It is nonetheless an interesting read and fulls one in on many aspects of 1776 that you don\’t get in ordinary History Classes.

This is a collection of interesting vignettes about what was happening in the world in the last part of the 18th century. It is an introduction to parts of history that we should know more about, but with the sorry state of historical education in the United States, most people don\’t. The book is entertaining and probably helpful.

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