Making the Heartland Quilt: A Geographical History of Settlement and Migration in Early-Nineteenth-Century Illinois - Softcover

Meyer, Douglas K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080933514X ISBN 13: 9780809335145

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Pr, 2016

Synopsis

Douglas K. Meyer reconstructs the settlement patterns of thirty-three immigrant groups and confirms the emergence of discrete culture regions and regional way stations.

Meyer argues that midcontinental Illinois symbolizes a historic test-strip of the diverse population origins that unfolded during the Great Migration. Basing his research on the 1850 United States manuscript schedules, Meyer dissects the geographical configurations of twenty-three native and ten foreign-born adult male immigrant groups who peopled Illinois. His historical geographical approach leads to the comprehension of a new and clearer map of settlement and migration history in the state.

Meyer finds that both cohesive and mixed immigrant settlements were established. Balkan-like immigrant enclaves or islands were interwoven into evolving local, regional, and national settlement networks. The midcontinental location of Illinois, its water and land linkages, and its lengthy north-south axis enhanced cultural diversity. The barrier effect of Lake Michigan contributed to the convergence and mixing of immigrants. Thus, Meyer demonstrates, Illinois epitomizes Midwestern dichotomies: northern versus southern; native-born versus foreign-born; rural versus urban; and agricultural versus manufacturing.

About this title

About the Author

Douglas K. Meyer is a professor of geography at Eastern Illinois University, USA. He is the coauthor (with John A. Jakle and Robert W. Bastian) of Common Houses in America’s Small Towns: The Atlantic Seaboard to the Mississippi Valley and(with Nancy Easter Shick) coauthor of a Pictorial Landscape History of Charleston, Illinois.

Edition details

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Pr
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080933514X
• ISBN 13: 9780809335145
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 354