What to do with the West? -- A nationalist viewpoint -- The West and the new constitution -- The fight for the Potomac -- A western perspective -- An unhappy West -- And slavery -- Western anxieties and the military debate -- A change in emphasis -- Epilogue: looking East
Summary
The foundation of the strong relationship between the trans-Appalachian West and the South was built in the last two decades of the eighteenth century when southerners, led by James Madison, defended the trans-Appalachian West and westerners against northerners' political and economic attacks. Over time many southerners came to believe that the South's political future depended on forging a tight political bond between the South and the trans-Appalachian West. While many historians have taken this close relationship for granted or dismissed it as a natural product of cultural similarities, Jef