First published 2019
David McCullough examines the founding of America's Northwest Territory through the experiences of Revolutionary War veterans and their families. Following the Treaty of Paris, Britain transferred vast wilderness lands containing future states Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin to the new United States. Massachusetts minister Manasseh Cutler helped open this territory to war veterans seeking new lives. The Northwest Ordinance established three groundbreaking principles for the region: religious freedom, universal public education, and the ban on slavery. In 1788, General Rufus Putnam led the first group of New England pioneers to establish Marietta along the Ohio River. McCullough focuses on five key figures including Cutler, Putnam, Cutler's son Ephraim, a carpenter who became an architect, and a doctor who advanced American science. These settlers built communities from nothing while facing floods, fires, dangerous wildlife, absent infrastructure, and tense relations with Native American tribes. The book reveals how these determined colonists overcame every challenge to create lasting settlements based on democratic ideals.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-challenges
Setting: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Marietta, Ohio River
Period: 1788, Post-Revolutionary War
330 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster