The Southern Frontiers, 1607-1860: The Agricultural Evolution of the Colonial and Antebellum South

(Hardback)

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Although many specialized studies have dealt with the colonial and antebellum American South, very little attention has been paid to the Southern agricultural frontiers before 1860. This study focuses on agriculture, the primary economic activity and the single most important factor in shaping the South's colonial and antebellum frontiers. After examining the agricultural economy on the Southern seaboard during colonial times, Otto explains the economic and environmental forces that led to the expansion of upland and lowland agriculturalists across the trans-Appalachian South during the antebellum period. Although many specialized studies have dealt with the colonial and antebellum American South, very little attention has been paid to the Southern agricultural frontiers before 1860. This study focuses on agriculture, the primary economic activity and the single most important factor in shaping the South's colonial and antebellum frontiers. After examining the agricultural economy on the Southern seaboard during colonial times, Otto explains the economic and environmental forces that led to the expansion of upland and lowland agriculturalists across the trans-Appalachian South during the antebellum period. Synthesizing sources drawn from history, geography, anthropology, and folklife, Otto has added an important new dimension to our knowledge of the American South. This book is an appropriate resource for courses or studies in Southern and American history, historical geography, folklife, anthropology, and agricultural history.

Reviews

. . . provides a synthesis of studies from a variety of disciplines on agriculture in the American South from colonial times to the Civil War. . . . Otto describes succinctly and well the syncretistic agricultural techniques of the colonial period, that is, the contributions of native Americans, Africans, and West Indians as well as of Europeans.-Canadian Journal of History
. . . Otto's work will be of interest to students and scholars and serious general readers. It is to be hoped that he will follow this brief volume with a larger work that will allow him to more fully explore his thesis.-Florida Historical Quarterly
. . . Otto's The Southern Frontiers is a highly useful book for students unfamiliar with the secondary sources in southern agricultural history and is of interest to scholars of the American frontier and American South.-The Journal of American History
A helpful synthesis of the broad literature on Southern agriculture. Although the preface might indicate extensive use of archival material, the references suggest a foundation of printed sources. This is a useful book no less for its coverage of regional differentiation than for its condensation of the entire span of Southern agriculture from 1607 to 1860 in 139 pages . . . this is a good effort at putting the story of Southern agriculture in succinct and meaningful form. College and university libraries.-Choice
." . . provides a synthesis of studies from a variety of disciplines on agriculture in the American South from colonial times to the Civil War. . . . Otto describes succinctly and well the syncretistic agricultural techniques of the colonial period, that is, the contributions of native Americans, Africans, and West Indians as well as of Europeans."-Canadian Journal of History
." . . Otto's work will be of interest to students and scholars and serious general readers. It is to be hoped that he will follow this brief volume with a larger work that will allow him to more fully explore his thesis."-Florida Historical Quarterly
." . . Otto's The Southern Frontiers is a highly useful book for students unfamiliar with the secondary sources in southern agricultural history and is of interest to scholars of the American frontier and American South."-The Journal of American History
"A helpful synthesis of the broad literature on Southern agriculture. Although the preface might indicate extensive use of archival material, the references suggest a foundation of printed sources. This is a useful book no less for its coverage of regional differentiation than for its condensation of the entire span of Southern agriculture from 1607 to 1860 in 139 pages . . . this is a good effort at putting the story of Southern agriculture in succinct and meaningful form. College and university libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

JOHN SOLOMON OTTO is Research Associate, International Center for Development Policy, Washington, DC. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1975. Otto is the author of over 50 articles and the book Cannon's Point Plantation, 1794-1860.