Title: Beautiful machine
First published: 1991
Description: The second volume in Seelye's series on the rivers of America in the American imagination, Beautiful Machine explores a critical, transitional period in American history, taking as its starting point the French and Indian War -- the event that determined domination of North America by an Anglo-American presence -- and ending with the opening of the Erie Canal -- the event that determined the geopolitical alignment that would guarantee a northeastern hegemony as the new nation moved West. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson figure prominently as visionaries, who saw American rivers as agents of national unity with the promise of linking Virginia's Potomac to the wealth of the Ohio Valley. - Jacket flap.
Subjects: History and criticism, American literature, History, Intellectual life, Rivers, Civilization, Rivers in literature, River engineering, American literature, history and criticism, colonial period, ca. 1600-1775, American literature, history and criticism, revolutionary period, 1775-1783, United states, civilization, 1783-1865, American literature, history and criticism, 1783-1850
Places: United States
Time periods: 18th century, 19th century, 1783-1850, 1783-1865, Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775, Revolutionary period, 1775-1783
LC classification: PS195.R55 S39 1991