History of Illinois

From Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847Second Edition

Author: Thomas Ford
Introduction and notes by Rodney O. Davis
Cloth – $47
978-0-252-02140-4
Publication Date
Cloth: 01/01/1995
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About the Book

"Davis writes with an authority derived from his own perceptive studies of Illinois during the Jackson period. His account is balanced and critical while at the same time recognizing the value of Ford's book." -- Robert W. Johannsen, J. G. Randall Distinguished Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Both cynical and self-serving, Illinois's seventh governor Thomas Ford also possessed an unrivaled sensitivity to the dynamics of frontier life. He reveals these and other qualities in his classic A History of Illinois, which covers the state's first thirty years.

Ford writes with candor of the lengthy "Hancock County difficulties" and the ouster of Mormons from the state. His treatment of the Black Hawk War and his writings on the slavery controversy in the state, the murder of Elijah Lovejoy, and the larger issues of violence and vigilantism help show why this volume has been called the outstanding early survey of Illinois history. This reissue of Ford's book includes an introduction by Rodney O. Davis and a publication history by Terence Tanner.