Prairie Republic - 9780806141107

This volume offers a portrait of the political culture of the Dakota Territory (in what is now the eastern half of South Dakota) in the 1880s, a period of settlement boom, arguing that the settler inhabitants of the region were deeply committed to civic republicanism in their daily lives and that this commitment served as the most powerful force shaping the social order in the region. He identifies the core principles of Dakotans' republicanism as inculcating personal virtue, promoting the interests of the commonwealth over personal gain, fighting corruption, and celebrating the agrarian tradition. He links the settler's equally strong devotion to Christianity to their republicanism and praises them as the bedrock of Dakota's stable social and constitutional order. In addition, he revisits Howard Lamar's 50-year-old book Dakota Territory, assessing the intellectual environment that shaped that work. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)