Date of Graduation
Spring 2021
Degree
Master of Arts in History
Department
History
Committee Chair
Jeremy Neely
Abstract
Shortly after the War of 1812, the U.S government attempted to construct a new military road system connecting Nashville, Tennessee to strategic ports at New Orleans and Mobile. The road was intended to grant faster military responses to British, Spanish, and Indian threats within America’s southern frontier and to aid in the region’s settlement. The American government directed iconic General Andrew Jackson to spearhead the road’s construction, believing the construction would be rapid and the expenses minimal. However, the impenetrable thickets and inundating swamps of the Mississippi Territory proved untamable, while shifting geo-political dynamics mitigated the road’s necessity. Never used for massive troop deployment and with a negligible impact on the settlement of Mississippi, the Jackson Military Road proved to be a costly, futile endeavor.
Keywords
Andrew Jackson, military, road, construction, nature, environment, government, nineteenth century, frontier, settlement
Subject Categories
United States History
Copyright
© Dustin Mitchell Wren
Recommended Citation
Wren, Dustin Mitchell, "Through the Wilderness: Andrew Jackson's Military Road and the Settlement of the Southern Frontier" (2021). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 3597.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/3597
