More Attention for the Trans-Mississippi

Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prize winner, Steven Hahn has authored “Slave Emancipation, Indian Peoples, and the Projects of a New American Nation-State” that appears in the most recent issue of The Journal of the Civil War Era. “Hahn argues for considering emancipation in the South and the destruction of Indian sovereignties in the Trans-Mississippi West as related projects for nation building. They represented, in Hahn’s words, ‘Wars of the Rebellions.’ And they suggest that Reconstruction unfolded as a national project, not only a southern one” (p. 305). When a “big name” writes about a topic, other scholars follow in their wake. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, increased attention is being paid to the trans-Mississippi during the Civil War era. Can’t wait to see what else gets published about the trans-Mississippi in upcoming years.