Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State

Carved out of the Northwest Territory, the state of Ohio has a long and rich history, one that played pivotal roles in every phase of American history. In Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State, the first survey of Ohio history designed specifically for use in the college–level course in Ohio History and the first entirely new, complete history of Ohio to appear in more than 20 years, Professors Kern and Wilson explore the breadth of the Buckeye State’s past, tracing the course of its history from the earliest geological periods to the present day in an accessible, single–volume format. Drawing on the latest scholarship from history, archaeology, and political science, this comprehensive study presents the most up–to–date, interdisciplinary history of the state currently available. Authors Kern and Wilson bring to bear more than twenty years of combined academic experience in teaching Ohio history at the college level in their exploration of major themes in the state’s history, augmenting the standard chronological narrative with thematic chapters weaving together major social, economic, and political trends over time. All of this makes Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State an essential resource for students and scholars alike in its presentation of the full sweep of the history of the state of Ohio.

List of Figures viii Acknowledgments xii 1 Ohio Before Ohio: State Geology and Topography 1 Geology 2 Topography 7 Importance of Ohio Geology and Topography 13 2 The First Ohioans: Prehistoric Ohio 20 Paleo–Indian Period (c. ?–c. 11,000 years ago) 22 The Archaic Period (c. 11,000–c. 2,800 years ago) 24 The Woodland Period (c. 3,000–c. 1,000 years ago) 29 Late Prehistoric Period (c. 1,100–c. 400 years ago) 42 3 The Middle Ground: European and Native American Interaction in Ohio 47 Early Effects of European Contact 49 Ohio as “The Middle Ground” 52 Colonial Wars and Life in Middle Ground Ohio 54 4 War and Peace: The End of “Middle Ground” Ohio 67 The Resistance of 1763 68 Lord Dunmore’s War 75 The American Revolution 79 The Western Confederacy and the End of the Middle Ground 87 5 The Ohio Experiment: Formation of the Northwest Territory, Early American Settlements, and Statehood 100 Clearing Title and Related Problems 101 Organizing Ohio and the Birth of the Public Land System 102 Early Ohio Settlements 113 From Territory to State 117 6 A Community of Communities: Early Ohio Society 125 Demographics 126 Social Conflict 138 Reform 141 7 Revolutions: Early Ohio Economic Developments 160 Early Ohio’s Economy 161 Economic Revolutions 166 8 From Periphery to Center: Early Statehood and National Politics 185 Early Statehood Politics 186 The War of 1812 192 State and National Politics, 1815–36 200 Political Ascendance and its Problems 206 Sectional Politics and the End of the Second Party System 208 The Constitution of 1851 210 9 Ohio Must Lead! The Civil War and Reconstruction 214 Ohio and Sectional Conflict 216 Ohio and the Civil War 222 Ohio’s Civil War Contribution: A Summary 234 The Reconstruction Period, 1865–77 240 10 Why Ohio? Late Nineteenth–Century Politics and Presidents 247 Why Ohio? 247 State Politics 249 Ohio’s Presidents from Hayes to McKinley 256 11 The Making of an Industrial State: 1865–1920 280 Industrialization 281 Location and Transportation 283 Natural Resources 287 Finances, Entrepreneurs, and Innovation 288 People 294 Industrial Work and the Rise of Organized Labor 307 12 Urban Life, Leisure, and Political Activism: 1880–1920 316 Urban Life and Leisure 317 Urban Political Reform 324 Women’s Activism 331 Education 336 Conclusion 338 13 Reform and the Great War: 1912–1920 340 The 1912 State Constitution 341 The 1912 Elections 343 The Flood of 1913 347 Ohio and the Great War 349 The 1920 Election 358 Summary 359 14 Boom, Bust and War: 1920–1945 361 The Economy and Politics in the 1920s 363 Social and Cultural Conflict 366 Literary Critics of Ohio 370 The Great Depression and the New Deal 376 World War II 387 At War’s End 393 15 Affluence and Anticommunism 396 The Postwar Boom 397 Migration and the Changing Cities 404 The Cold War and Ohio Politics 411 Conclusion 424 16 Rebellion and Reaction: The 1960s 426 The Struggle for Black Equality 427 Carl and Louis Stokes 434 Resurgence of Women’s Activism 436 Emerging Environmental Issues 440 Escalation: Vietnam and Politics 444 Campus Unrest and the Kent State Shootings 451 17 Ohio since 1970 457 Stagnation and Decline 458 Politics in the 1970s and 1980s 467 Towards the Future: Ohio since the 1990s 476 Summing Up: Ohio as America 485 Index 490

Kevin F. Kern is Associate Professor of History at the University of Akron. He is currently completing a history of the Galton Society, an early 20th–century U.S. eugenics organization. Gregory S. Wilson is Associate Professor of History at the University of Akron. He is the author of Communities Left Behind: The Area Redevelopment Administration, 1945 – 1965 .