Chronicles Of Border Warfare Or A History Of The Settlement By The Whites Of North Western Virginia And Of The Indian Wars And Massacres In That Section Of The State By Alexander Scott Withers A New Edition Edited And Annotated By Reuben Gold Thwaites With The Addition Of A Memoir Of The Author And Several Illustrative Notes By The Late Lyman Copeland Draper

Author : Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman
Publisher : Mercer University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780865548619
Total Pages : 202 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (486 download)

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Download or read book Melungeons written by Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of us probably think of America as being settled by British, Protestant colonists who fought the Indians, tamed the wilderness, and brought "democracy"-or at least a representative republic-to North America. To the contrary, Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman's research indicates the earliest settlers were of Mediterranean extraction, and of a Jewish or Muslim religious persuasion. Sometimes called "Melungeons," these early settlers were among the earliest nonnative "Americans" to live in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. For fear of discrimination-since Muslims, Jews, "Indians," and other "persons of color" were often disenfranchised and abused-the Melungeons were reticent regarding their heritage. In fact, over time, many of the Melungeons themselves "forgot" where they came from. Hence, today, the Melungeons remain the "last lost tribe in America," even to themselves. Yet, Hirschman, supported by DNA testing, genealogies, and a variety of historical documents, suggests that the Melungeons included such notable early Americans as Daniel Boone, John Sevier, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Andrew Jackson. Once lost, but now, forgotten no more.