Steve Inskeep

John C. Fremont explored the West in the 1840s, governed California, ran for President, has many cities and landmarks named after him, but somehow remains somewhat unknown in US history. Raised poor in Savannah, GA, Fremont managed to find his way to Washington DC where he married Jessie Benton, the daughter of a famous senator, and his future as an explorer for the government began. In Imperfect Union, Steve Inskeep tells the story of John and Jessie as they work together to become one of the first true celebrity couples in the US. Inskeep uses a large number of historical documents but still keeps the story moving and very interesting. Readers of adventure nonfiction and history will definitely enjoy this book which covers many of the great periods of US history from Manifest Destiny and the Gold Rush through the Civil War.… (mais)

I had picked up Jacksonland several times but didn't have the mental focus for Steve Inskeep's story of the Cherokee removal. Inskeep focused on two men at the center of this horrific event in United States history: John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokees, and Andrew Jackson, the President who presided over what has become known as the Trail of Tears. I knew it wouldn't be an easy book to read and I was right. Inskeep chooses details and anecdotes intentionally for maximum impact and gets to the heart of the machinations and corruption that led to the Cherokee removal. Ultimately, no matter how "civilized" the Cherokee became, they inhabited land that others with more power wanted. Inskeep has a solid story telling style that reminded me of David McCullough. Just enough historical detail fleshed out with human stories and emotions to truly bring history to life.… (mais)

Life has an intriguing and often twisted way of testing the ability and endurance of former comrades-in-arms and nowhere is this more evident than in Jacksonland which delineates how President Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, insidiously acquired the Cherokee Nation's tens of millions of acres of land in the deep South. But Jackson had an opponent. His former comrade-in-arms, Cherokee Chief John Ross who headed one of the so-called five civilized tribes who had adopted the seemingly cultured ways of contemporary whites.

Ross used the United States own constitutionalism and legalism against it to preserve the Cherokee's future economical prospects while avoiding all-out war with Washington having witnessed dozens of genocidal routs suffered by Natives at the hands of American armies.

While Inskeep can't be faulted for relaying history as it is, Ross emerges more or less a man of concessions while Jackson retains his prominence as an immovable warrior at the apex of his ability. The author's journalistic side with digressive investigations prolongs an otherwise already tedious narrative. The value of this book is in its legalistic history rather than its analytical treatment of the personalities involved.… (mais)

Steve Inskeep's book "Imperfect Union" tells the story of the westward expansion of the young United States in the mid-19th Century. Central to the story is the role John Fremont played in exploring and mapping sections of the West. His stories of exploration became popular in the country, which in turn led to further westward expansion. His explorations brought him over the Rockies, to Utah, to the Oregon Territory, and to present day California when it was still part of Mexico. He was a leading figure in its push for statehood, and became military governor and briefly, represented California in the U.S. Senate.

Throughout the book, you realize how significant the slavery and anti-slavery movements were in the years leading up to the civil war. Fremont, his wife Jessie, and his father-in-law, Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, were but a few of the individuals involved national issues such as the fight over the expansion of slavery in new states, the treatment of blacks, opposition to immigrants, etc.

During this period in the Country, with Southern States feeling their interests were being challenged by the more populous Northern States, the talk of possible secession was being discussed. Fremont, the 1856 Republican Party candidate, was anti-slavery, and lost the presidential election to James Buchanan, who had warned that a Republican victory would lead to civil war.
Four years later, Fremont still had supporters trying to encourage him to be the Republican candidate in the 1860 presidential election. Fremont declined consideration, and Abraham Lincoln instead became the Party nominee and subsequent President. One can only wonder how things would have been different had Fremont been the presidential candidate in that election instead of Lincoln.
… (mais)