James Madison, the South, and the Trans-Appalachian West, 1783–1803

The strong relationship that historians have described between the South and the trans-Appalachian West in the early nineteenth century had its origins in the twenty-year period after the American Revolution when a group of far-sighted southerners, with James Madison in the forefront, worked to form a political bond between the two regions. While many historians have taken this close relationship for granted or have dismissed it as a natural product of cultural similarities, strong family bonds and slavery being just two, it was built deliberately by a handful of forward-looking southerners with hard work and dedication. Jeffrey A. Zemler carefully analyzes the development of this bond and the history of these two regions during this twenty-year period, which is far more complicated than historians have imagined or described.

Zemler makes an interesting and important argument. From 1780 to 1800, 'far-sighted' southern leaders–of whom the Virginian James Madison was a leading example–worked to create political and cultural bonds between the established southern states of the Atlantic seaboard and the emergent states of the trans-Appalachian West. (Zemler uses 'West' as a label for the territories west of the Appalachians and south of the Ohio River, which strikes this reviewer as too imprecise.) It is this Madisonian agenda, Zemler contends, that helps readers understand the multitudinous political battles of the American Republic's first two decades. The pursuit of a South-'West' alliance informed debates over issues ranging from the role of the House of Representatives in diplomacy, to the idea of a 'standing army' during this insecure period, to the place of slavery in an expanding southwestern demesne. Moreover, Zemler shows, historians studying the 'Old South' need to look earlier for its origins, as the 'southern-ness' of the eventual cotton frontier was already well in place by 1800. This well-researched, closely argued book will be read with profit by students of the early Republic and Old South. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries., Zemler has provided a service by taking a fresh look at the West in American politics and connecting issues that are not generally connected. . . .Zemler has made a solid contribution to the study of a southern sectional identity., Zemler makes a strong case for the significance of the western frontier in the maturation of regional and national politics and America's fledgling economy. . . .Zemler skillfully reveals the centrality of the region [trans-Applachian West] and its political economy in the broader national debates and sectional political struggles of the period. . . .There is much to be admired in Zemler's study, especially his ability to tease out the often obfuscated appearance of western issues in broader congressional debates and James Madison's constantly evolving views of the region. . . .[The book] is an excellent addition to the growing historiography of the trans-Applachian West., Zemler must be applauded for his emphasis on the importance of regional interests and perceptions in both Madison's thinking and the broader history of early national America and especially for incorporating slavery into the story without assuming or exaggerating its importance.... [A]ll readers will learn from this book and find Zemler's regional approach to understanding Madison and his contemporaries stimulating., In his succinct and carefully researched new book, Jeffrey Allen Zemler traces the evolution of the political relationship between the South and West in the 1780s and 1790s. . . .James Madison, the South, and the Trans- Appalachian West is a handsome volume. . . .[Zemler] has made a useful contribution to our understanding of the politics of expansion in the early republic.

Jeffrey A. Zemler earned his PhD in American history from the University of North Texas.