The Wilderness Road, running from northeast Tennessee through the Cumberland Gap, was the main thoroughfare from 1775 to 1820 for Americans heading west into the new promised lands of Kentucky. The pathway, blazed by Daniel Boone, was our nation’s first migration highway, but the trip was not for the faint of heart.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how western migration allowed our young nation to expand its boundaries and begin to harvest the region’s incredible riches, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
National Park Service
North Carolina State Archives
Library of Congress
Britannica Online
New York Public Library
Yale University Art Gallery

American pioneers had a yearning to move west and discover new lands. Along the way, they had to overcome daunting natural barriers, including the Appalachian Mountains. Immigrants desiring the unclaimed lands to the west traveled from Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley to western North Carolina.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how the pioneers were able to find a gap traversable by wagon and make their way west, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
Library of Congress
State Archives of North Carolina
National Park Service
National Portrait Gallery
Digital Library of Appalachia

Following Pontiac’s attack on Fort Detroit, word quickly spread to Indian villages across the region and other tribes followed suit. On May 16, Wyandot warriors approached Fort Sandusky, on the south shore of Lake Erie, and asked to smoke a peace pipe with the commandant, Ensign Paully. Unaware of the rebellion and on friendly terms with the Wyandots, Paully opened the gates and the warriors massacred the fifteen-man garrison. Similar stories began to unfold throughout the region.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how tribes were able to capture British outposts across the Great Lakes region during Pontiac’s Rebellion, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
Library of Congress
New York Public Library
National Army Museum

Pontiac, an Ottawa war chief, launched his rebellion in May 1763 when he attacked Fort Detroit and its 120-man garrison commanded by Major Henry Gladwyn. The uprising would be the longest and most widespread ever in North America. Pontiac’s initial targets were nine British outposts, including Fort Detroit, the centerpiece of the region. These forts were more than 100 miles apart, rendering them incapable of supporting one another, a fact not lost on Pontiac.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the siege of Fort Detroit and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
Library of Congress
The New York Public Library

As a result of the French and Indian War, the Ohio Country and the land around the Great Lakes changed from French to British control in the early 1760s. Indian nations worried that their way of life would be adversely affected by this change, and a charismatic Ottawa chief named Pontiac was determined to prevent this from happening. In late 1762, Pontiac sent emissaries to tribes across the region, challenging them to join his endeavor to drive out the British.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the life of Chief Pontiac and his plan to protect his ancestral lands from the encroachment of British American colonists, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
University of Michigan Library
Library of Congress
Encyclopedia Virginia
Cincinnati Art Museum

Since 1607, when the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown, British America had largely been confined to the eastern seaboard. As the colonies began to expand west in the mid-1700s, they came into conflict with their longtime nemesis, the French, primarily over which nation would dominate the lucrative fur trade in the Ohio Country. In 1754, these tensions erupted into the French and Indian War, and when it ended, the map of North America was redrawn. France was essentially expelled from the continent and England was awarded all lands east of the Mississippi to the Atlantic seaboard and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, except for New Orleans.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how England came to dominate the fight for control of North America, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
New York Public Library
Library of Congress
National Army Museum
National Portrait Gallery

In the 1750s, American colonists were happy to be part of the British Empire. Were it not for the French and Indian War, fought between England and France from 1754 to 1763, America might not have sought her independence. Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the French and Indian War changed the colonists view of their place in the British Empire, and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo credits:
Library of Congress
New York State Archives
National Army Museum
National Postal Museum
National Archives

The first Europeans to reach North America and explore its interior were the Spanish in the early 1500s, who came mainly for “gold, glory, and God.” France also established a colonial empire in North America beginning with Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600s, calling their holdings New France. In 1692, La Salle, a former Jesuit priest, canoed down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the land for France and naming it Louisiana. Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how European attempts at establishing a colonial empire in North America resulted in the French establishing outposts from the Great Lakes to the Gulf and why it still matters today. Read Tom’s blog to learn more.

Photo Credits:
Library of Congress
University of South Florida
New York Public Library
Government of Canada
National Gallery of Art