The Men Who United the States, by Simon Winchester

Part	People, events, etc.
Preface  The Pure Physics of Union	“America is, after all, a nation founded as a home for the single simple idea of universal human freedom.” (page xvi)   The guiding question the author wanted to answer in the book is, “just how has it [the U.S.] managed to adhere, to keep itself annealed into one for all the years and decades since?”  (page xvi)
Part I When America’s Story was Dominated by Wood 1785 – 1805	Thomas Jefferson – 1785 – Land Ordinance, the ability to own land Thomas Hutchins – first Geographer of US 1803 – Louisiana Purchase Lewis and Clark Frederick Jackson Turner – history professor – significance of frontier to American character Plains Indians Sacagawea
Part II When America’s Story Went Beneath the Earth 1809 – 1901	Robert Owen – Welsh Socialist, New Harmony William Maclure – Geology’s Founding Father Important for educational reform and geology David Dale Owen – geologist, influence in surveying the nation Joel Walker – first western traveler South Pass – Oregon Trail Topographers – West Point Grads – John Fremont Four Great Surveys of the West – 1867 George Wheeler – Survey of One Hundredth Meridian John Wesley Powell – Rocky Mts.  and Grand Canyon Clarence Rivers King – Fortieth Parallel - also solved Great Diamond Fraud Ferdinand Hayden – Yellowstone – preservation efforts William Henry Jackson – photographed Yellowstone Thomas Moran – painted and sketched Yellowstone
Part III When the American Story Traveled by Water 1803 – 1900	American Canal Era Fall line “Canals changed social fabric of the nation” (page 195) Loammi Baldwin Sr. and Jr. – senior built first successful canals Lowell Mill Girls – work reforms for women Erie Canal Hudson-Mohawk Gap – only major gap through Appalachian Mts. Chicago Sanitary Canal – second, larger canal built to take away sewage from Lake Michigan Asian Carp are using canal to invade lake Michigan Mississippi River
Part IV When the American Story was Fanned by Fire 1811 – 1956	United States National Road – started by Jefferson – 28 years to complete John McAdam – Roads made of “macadam” Steam John Fitch – true inventor of steam engine Robert Fulton – received credit for invention John Stevens – father of American railroad   As a result of railroads: Pocket watches Time zones New skill sets New business management ideas Idea of “vacation” Resorts Prosperity of towns along rail line Decline of towns not along rail line Division of North and South Outcome of Civil War Theodore Dehone Judah – promoted railroad Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads Chinese immigrants and importance to building railroads Automobiles Major Dwight Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways   Thomas Harris MacDonald – Interstate Highway System Gave roads federally designated numbers NS – odd numbers EW – even numbers Lower numbers east and north Major routes ended in 5 and 0 Great Diagonal Way – Chicago to LA #66 Charles and Frank Duryea – Duryea Wagon Company   1984 – Office of Road Inquiry – “Get the farmer out of the mud.” Became Bureau of Public Roads Calbraith Rogers – first to fly across country, fall 1911
Part V When the American Story was Told Through Metal 1835 – Tomorrow	Samuel Morse Hiram Sibley – Western Union Telegraph united East and West, ignored southern part of country Sibley squash – most remembered accomplishment Alexander Graham Bell Telephone - led to electronic world George Westinghouse Thomas Alva Edison – light bulbs – Menlo Park – direct current Nikola Tesla – alternating current – electrocuted Topsy, circus elephant F.D. Roosevelt – New Deal Morris Llewellyn Cooke – electrified American farmlands Guglielmo Marconi – inventor of wireless telegraph Reginald Fessenden – AM radio 1914 – first radio station – Madison, Wisconsin 1920 – first official station – KDKA Pittsburgh, PA Original purpose of radio was to make money David Sarnoff – RCA and NBC Arturo Tocanni – European symphony conductor brought to America Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier – 3oo,ooo listeners to boxing match Walter Winchell – gossip show Orson Welles – War of the Worlds Later moved to television William Siemering – Public Service Radio – 1945 NPR – 1971 Johnny Carson Television unified country but different  than previous inventions which let people communicate one-on-one This let everyone share a single mass culture Results of TV – Families viewed together Everyone flushed toilets at same time Rush of electricity demand when shows ended Furniture TV dinners New vocabulary (boob tube, couch potato) Influence on political elections Cable TV – watchers now split into subgroups, all watching individually Internet Joseph Lichlider – started with a memo in 1963 Vint Clef Robert Kahn Web – 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee

For discussion:
1. Do you think the  fact that the author became an American citizen as an adult or the fact that his wife is Japanese influenced his interpretation?  If so, how?


2. In Part IV, the author listed many that happened as a result of railroads and in Part V he did the same with television.  Do you agree?  Anything you would add?


3. If you have ever taken a road trip, what are your early memories of road trips on the Interstate Highway System?


4. What are your early memories of watching television?  What is the most memorable event you watched on TV?


5. Which of? the five parts did you find most interesting?  Why


6. What did you learn that you did not know before?


7. Review the guiding question in the Preface that the author wanted to answer with this book.  Did he answer it?  If so, how?


8. Using Amazon's five-star rating system, how many stars would you give this book?  Why?


9. Discuss your reading experience.  Did you like the way the author organized the book?  Would you have done anything differently?
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.