They dealt with all aspects of nature – floods, fires, storms, wild animals. They labored to clear the land and build homes. The five major characters whose story we discover in The Pioneers originated in New England and had no idea what awaited them on the frontier of Ohio. The Pioneers shows how difficult it was for these ideals to be upheld. The Northwest Ordinance set out three conditions for the settlement of the territory: freedom of religion, free universal education, and the prohibition of slavery. The region contained the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the northeastern part of Minnesota. The newly formed Congress of the Confederation established this area as the Northwest Territory in 1787. What was the “west” in the 1780s? At the end of the Revolutionary War, Britain ceded the land west of Pennsylvania, northwest of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River below the Great Lakes. If we want to write well, we must read good writing! David McCullough is a master of reconstructing the past based on documentary evidence and context. If we are fortunate to have a diary or letters, we can learn from the book how to use them to tell our own ancestral story. As family historians, we can gain insights into our own ancestors who likely didn’t leave behind any traces of their thoughts and actions. We’re reading The Pioneers for our fall Family Locket Book Club selection on Goodreads.
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