River of Dark Dreams: Slavery and Empire in the Cotton Kingdom

by Walter Johnson

Book Overview

When Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Territory, he envisioned an empire for liberty populated by self-sufficient white farmers. Cleared of Native Americans and the remnants of European empires by Andrew Jackson, the Mississippi Valley was transformed instead into a booming capitalist economy commanded by wealthy planters, powered by steam engines, and dependent on the coerced labor of slaves. "River of Dark Dreams" places the Cotton Kingdom at the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674045556
• ISBN13: 9780674045552
• Release Date: February 2013
• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.3"