American Sheep
A Cultural History
Title Details
Pages: 264
Illustrations: 33 b&w images
Trim size: 6.000in x 9.000in
Formats
Hardcover
Pub Date: 10/01/2024
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6716-3
List Price: $29.95
EPUB
Pub Date: 10/01/2024
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6718-7
List Price: $29.95
Web PDF
Pub Date: 10/01/2024
ISBN: 9-780-8203-6717-0
List Price: $29.95
Subsidies and Partnerships
Published with the generous support of Bradley Hale Fund for Southern Studies
Related Subjects
HISTORY / United States / General
Farm and working animals: general interest
SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Ethology (Animal Behavior)
American Sheep
A Cultural History
The history of sheep is intertwined with the growth and development of the United States
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Why did Thomas Jefferson write that he would be happy if all dogs went extinct? What economic opportunity did attorney John Lord Hayes envision for the newly emancipated during Reconstruction? What American workers were mocked by Theodore Roosevelt as “morose, melancholy men”? What problems with revenue collection did Congressman James Beauchamp Clark mention when proposing an income tax? Why did Harley O. Gable of Armour & Company recommend that his meat-packing business manufacture violin strings? Why was Senator Lyndon Johnson angry at the Army and Navy Munitions Board at the start of the Korean War?
The answers to all these questions involve sheep. From the colonial era through the mid-twentieth century, America’s flocks played a key role in the nation’s development. Furthermore, much consternation centered around the sheep the United States lacked, so that dependency on foreign wool—a headache in times of peace—became a full-blown crisis in wartime. But more than just providers of wool, sheep were valued for their meat, for their byproducts after slaughter, and even for their efficiency at lawn maintenance.
Here is the story of the complex and fascinating relationship between Americans and their sheep. Brett Bannor explains how sheep have significantly impacted the broader growth and development of the United States. The history of America’s sheep encompasses topics that touch on many cornerstones of the American experience, such as enslavement, warfare, western expansion, industrialization, taxation, feminism, conservation, and labor relations, among others.
—Frederick R. Davis, author of The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles: Archie Carr and the Origins of Conservation Biology
—Jon T. Coleman, author of Here Lies Hugh Glass: A Mountain Man, a Bear, and the Rise of the American Nation
—Cindy Horton, director of museum operations, Florida State Fair Authority
—Staci Catron, author of Seeking Eden: A Collection of Georgia's Historic Gardens