Animals in Nineteenth-Century America

Animals in Nineteenth-Century America examines animal life and human-animal relationships in a pivotal century in American and world history. Spanning the “long nineteenth century” (1770s–1910s), this collection of primary sources and images traces how the United States was transformed in this period from a mosaic of Indigenous multispecies homelands into a managed landscape of industry, settlement, and control.

Each source is accompanied by a detailed contextual headnote and helpful annotations, and Susan Nance’s introductory essay charts the arc of animal history as various species confronted anthropogenic environmental change and human politics. The volume will be a valuable resource for those studying animal history, environmental history, or American history.