Absentee Landowning and Exploitation in West Virginia, 1760-1920

Absentee landowning has long been tied to economic distress in Appalachia. In this important revisionist study, Barbara Rasmussen examines the nature of landownership in five counties of West Virginia and its effects upon the counties\u27 economic and social development. Rasmussen untangles a web of outside domination of the region that commenced before the American Revolution, creating a legacy of hardship that continues to plague Appalachia today. The owners and exploiters of the region have included Lord Fairfax, George Washington, and, most recently, the U.S. Forest Service. The overarching concern of these absentee landowners has been to control the land, the politics, the government, and the resources of the fabulously rich Appalachian Mountains. Their early and relentless domination of politics assured a land tax system that still favors absentee landholders and simultaneously impoverishes the state. Class differences, a capitalistic outlook, and an ethic of growth and development pervaded western Virginia from earliest settlement. Residents, however, were quickly outspent by wealthier, more powerful outsiders. Insecurity in landownership, Rasmussen demonstrates, is the most significant difference between early mountain farmers and early American farmers everywhere. Barbara Rasmussen is an Appalachian historian. A thought-provoking and frequently insightful work that will contribute significantly to the ongoing scholarly debate concerning the roots of Appalachian dependency. —Journal of Appalachian Studies The book is consistently and appropriately engaged in present-day political concerns and ends with a prescription to revise West Virginia tax codes. Both activists and scholars can benefit from Rasmussen\u27s research. —Register of the Kentucky Historical Societyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1019/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of 4-methyl-1- cyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) on General Esterase and Glutathione-S-Transferase Activity in Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promela)

Abstract In 2014, several thousand gallons of coal-processing chemicals, which included 4-methyl-1- cyclohexanemethanol (MCHM), spilled into the Elk River in West Virginia. The location of this spill in West Virginia’s chemical valley is historically significant in defining the exploitations of people residing in this area. The concentration of crude MCHM in the river was approximated at 0.15 µg/L. Although some initial studies did consider the effects of MCHM exposure on humans, little attention has been given to aquatic wildlife. In this project, I will expose fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, an environmentally relevant species, to concentrations of MCHM between zero and fifty ppm for 72 hours. General Esterase and Glutathione-S-Transferase enzyme activities will be measured using whole body protein extracts, and compared to the control groups. I expect to see a significant increase in the activity of both systems. Increased activity could indicate that the fish have exhibited a detoxification response, which has potential implications for the endogenous functions of these enzyme systems

Commercialism, subsistence, and competency on the Western Virginia frontier, 1765--1800

Since the early nineteenth century, Americans have frequently associated the pioneers of the Appalachian Mountains with subsistence farming, economic independence, and a certain degree of hostility toward capitalism. This thesis disproves the myth of pioneer self-sufficiency by demonstrating how the men and women who settled in western Virginia during the final third of the eighteenth century used a variety of tactics in their struggle to achieve a competency. Although subsistence activities, such as hunting and farming, undoubtedly held an important place in the backcountry domestic economy, the settlers also interacted with the commercial market as both producers and consumers of a wide range of commodities. In the final analysis, this thesis adds to the growing body of scholarship which challenges the concept of Appalachian exceptionalism

Mountaintop Removal: An Assessment of the Propaganda Model of the News Media

This research used the method of content analysis to examine how the issue of mountaintop removal mining was presented in four print media sources: the Logan Banner, the Charleston Gazette, the Herald Dispatch, and Graffiti. The propaganda model put forth in Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, was used as the model upon which the research was based. The purpose of the research was to determine whether or not the coal industry exerts a form of censorship over print media sources in West Virginia. It also sought to determine if there was a difference in the way information was presented in the mainstream media as opposed to the alternative media. The tentative finding of the exploratory research was that industry bias was reflected in varying degrees in the three mainstream media sources, but not in Graffiti, the alternative media source

Indian warfare, household competency, and the settlement of the western Virginia frontier, 1749 to 1794

The thesis of this dissertation is that Indian-related violence and warfare had a profound influence on the duration and nature of the frontier experience of those men and women who settled in the western Virginia backcountry between 1749 and 1794. Recurrent attacks by Shawnees, Delawares, Mingos, and Indians from the Great Lakes region caused such widespread death, destruction, and depopulation that it effectively prolonged the period of austere and difficult living conditions for over forty years. This conclusion contradicts the assertions of some recent scholars who have argued that crude living conditions lasted for only a year or two on the Appalachian frontier, and that economic conditions improved rapidly. While this may have been the case in some sub-regions of Appalachia that experienced minimal upheaval from Indian attacks, this was not the case in trans-Allegheny West Virginia. The negative influence of Indian-associated violence manifested itself not only in how long it took Euro-Americans to gain hegemony over the region, but also in the household economies of the individual families. By using competency as a model for understanding household economics, it is demonstrated that although many settlers embraced the commercial economy when possible, the rigors of life on the oftentimes-violent frontier frequently left them no option but to shift their focus of their household production away from commercial production in favor of subsistence activities

Darkness Falls Upon America’s Backyard: An Evaluation of Central Appalachia’s Past Economic Woes and a Blueprint for the Region’s Future Economic Development

The United States prides itself as a nation that offers equity and opportunity to its citizens. However, in recent decades, regions of relative wealth and poverty have come to define the American landscape. Coastal communities have fared well with consistently declining rates of unemployment and increasing rates of college graduation. In contrast, Central Appalachia, which comprises parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, continues to falter with diverging employment and income levels relative to other areas of the country. This report discusses the economic history of the Appalachian region and considers three case studies, concentrated in McDowell, Harrison, and Chenango counties, to highlight both economically distressed and promising areas within Appalachia. McDowell County, located in southwestern West Virginia, has one of the nation’s highest poverty rates and the nation’s lowest life expectancy. By contrast, the economic transitions of Harrison County in West Virginia and Chenango County in New York provide a framework for developing a diverse Appalachian economy. Based on findings from these case studies and a comprehensive literature review, the report concludes by proposing a research design to evaluate a place-based economic development initiative’s success in ameliorating low economic outcomes

Take This Job and Shove It: The Pragmatic Philosophy of Johnny Paycheck and a Prayer for Strict Liability in Appalachia

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Standing in the Shadow of Empire: Ideology in the Path to West Virginia Statehood

An empire of industry moved through West Virginia prior to the US Civil War, and saw a breed of capitalists and politicians who acquired control of land through purchase and through patent, developed control of the vote through industrial political influence, and encouraged the West Virginian to separate from an eastern Virginian society based in planter-elite agrarian society. The West Virginian who believed that self-sufficiency and subsistence farming could sustain his family saw his vote for statehood and separation from the Old Dominion transformed into an industrial coup. Land slowly but steadily slipped away from the hands of the mountaineer and into the hands of industrialists who extracted wealth, transforming the new state into an environment that privileged the capitalist and industry above the yeoman farmer. For the industrialists who made West Virginia their home, it appears that extraction of minerals and timber was not the only value taken from West Virginia. Political power and entre into the world of the global industrialist may have been a strong motivating factor, as opposed to simply reaping financial rewards. This work seeks to highlight the influence of these industrialists at the local level in such a way as to demonstrate the weight of this collective group of individuals upon the crafting of West Virginia statehood

The Rail and the Cross in West Virginia Timber Country: Rethinking Religion in the Appalachian Mountains

West Virginia underwent significant changes in the four decades between 1880 and 1920. The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era witnessed political, social, cultural, and economic upheavals as industrialists looked to exploit natural resources and propel the Mountain State into a position of leadership in a modern national economy. Railroads opened up the remote interior counties, paving the way for the oil, coal, and timber industries. The West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway, under the direction of Henry Gassaway Davis, scaled the highest peaks of the Allegheny Mountains. Davis and his business associates quickly took control of the timber and coal reserves in the mountain counties. Local elites allied themselves with larger capitalists, forming partnerships which enabled outsiders to dominate local political and economic life throughout the period.;Religious transformations characterized the period as well. Nation-wide, Protestant missionaries moved into the South, seeking to evangelize, educate, and uplift whites and blacks. Northern churches paid particular attention to the mountain South. However, West Virginia received significantly less money and manpower from national denominations than the other states in Appalachia. State and local religious organizations stepped in and ensured that the rapidly in-creasing population of the state would not go unreached. They used the railroad to their ad-vantage as well.;Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, the three largest Protestant groups in the country and in West Virginia, led the way. All three already had some presence in the mountains, and denominational networks ensured that these mountain churches had some ties to mainline Christianity. Missionaries working in the most remote regions reinforced traditional doctrine and practice while strengthening denominational ties. Churches attracted people of all social ranks, although Methodists and Baptists offered more opportunities for working class members. While the secular affairs of mountain communities and counties remained firmly in control of industrialists and their local affiliates, the sacred sphere remained open for all.;At the same time, churches across the state joined in increasingly loud calls for moral re-form, particularly for new Sabbath and temperance laws. Thus, Protestant churches across the state reflected a mainline yet conservative doctrinal outlook that emphasized denominational distinctives while championing a unified, broadly Protestant culture for the creation of sought-after Christian America. Industrialists such as Henry Gassaway Davis shared the vision of a Christian America and favored many of the same moral reforms. They worked together with churches to achieve common goals. However, despite the autonomy of the sacred sphere, the secular sphere had become dominant in the Alleghenies, in West Virginia, and in the United States. Thus, when the goals conflicted, as in the case of Sabbath reform, the secular usually won, thus further weakening and isolating the sacred