Illinois: A HISTORY [Paperback]

Richard J. Jensen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2001

The epic struggle between traditional, agrarian society and modern industrial capitalism was played out on the national stage as the War between the States. The same struggle between traditional and modern values split Illinois between 'Egypt' - the southern region populated by yeoman farmers who came to Illinois from Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, and other southern states - and the Yankee-dominated, urban north.Richard J. Jensen treats Illinois as a microcosm of the nation, arguing that its history exhibits basic conflicts that had much to do with shaping American society in general. Northern reformers in Illinois were intent on remaking the state in their image: middle-class, egalitarian, urban, and progressive. These values clashed with the patriarchal supremacy and intense loyalty to kin and ken by which the people of southern Illinois, and the South, organized their lives.When the Civil War broke out, sympathy for the Confederacy ran high in southern Illinois. Although the region officially supported the Union, guerrilla bands terrorized Unionists, and in Charleston a full-scale riot against Federal troops erupted in 1864.The Union victory decisively shifted both the nation and Illinois toward faster modernization. Violence became more bureaucratized, and localism eroded with the onslaught of chain franchises, consolidated schools, and homogenized suburbs. Jensen extends his discussion to the emergence of newer, postmodern conflicts that continue to occupy the people of Illinois. Without neglecting the high-profile individuals and events that put the Prairie State on the map, Jensen offers an innovative, wide-angle view that expands our perspective on Illinois history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (September 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252070216
• ISBN-13: 978-0252070211
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You can forgive a lot, but not this, April 23, 2011

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This review is from: Illinois: A HISTORY (Paperback)

Jensen's little book is just that--little. He seems to have defined an idea born out of a certain slant in the 1970s and then decided to force the history of Illinois into that idea's framework. It is a limited view of a monolithic movement from traditionalism to modernism to postmodernism. Each era of Illinois' history is described through one of these lenses with no appreciation for the fact that none is sufficient to describe an era and that more than one of these ideas seems to obtain in any given period--and that the three together are not sufficient for describing any society. The dismissal of whole groups (native peoples, Irish immigrants, Blacks, Catholics) as given to superstition and as easily manipulated by the powers-that be is naive at best. Throughout the book, Jensen spouts damning generalizations with scant evidence, provides quotations with no sources, and generally paints history in ways that ensure it will fit into his three-phase thesis. Don't buy this book.