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For much of Indiana's history, its distinctiveness has lain in its typicality. It has embodied–-and continues to embody-–values and behavior that are specifically American. In the late eighteenth century Indiana was the heart of the Old Northwest, a vast area conceived as a preserve where independent farmers and their families could live free from the shadow of slavery. 

During the Civil War, the state found itself divided, with Indianans' allegiances split between Southern partisans and zealous Yankees. Throughout this period, the workshops and farms of Indiana continued to provide the growing nation with food and other necessities. Countless small towns prospered; Indianapolis grew, and Gary, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, became synonymous with steel production, symbolizing the industrial might of America. Readers all over the country embraced the writings of Indianans such as James Whitcomb Riley and Booth Tarkington, while Indiana's painters disseminated iconic and idyllic images of America. 

This comprehensive history traces the history of the Hoosier state, revealing its most significant contributions to the nation as a whole, while also exploring the unique character of its land and people. Howard H. Peckham relates recent changes in Indiana as a variety of ethnic and racial groups have come seeking a share in the good life, enriching and redefining this ever-changing state for the new millennium.

Indiana’s War is a primary source collection featuring the writings of Indiana’s citizens during the Civil War era. Using private letters, official records, newspaper articles, and other original sources, the volume presents the varied experiences of Indiana’s participants in the war both on the battlefield and on the home front. Starting in the 1850s, the documents show the sharp political divisions over issues such as slavery, race, and secession in Indiana, divisions that boiled over into extraordinary strife and violence in the state during the rebellion. This conflict touched all levels and members of society, including men, women, and children, whites and African Americans, native-born citizens and immigrants, farmers and city and town dwellers.

Collecting the writings of Indiana’s peoples on a wide range of issues, chapters focus on the politics of race prior to the war, the secession crisis, war fever in 1861, the experiences of soldiers at the front, homefront hardships, political conflict between partisan foes and civil and military authorities, reactions to the Emancipation Proclamation, and antiwar dissent, violence, and conspiracy.

Indiana’s War is an excellent accompanying primary source text for undergraduate and graduate courses on the American Civil War. It documents the experiences of Indiana’s citizens, from the African American soldier to the antiwar dissenter, from the prewar politician to the postwar veteran, from the battle-scarred soldier to the impoverished soldier’s wife, all showing the harsh realities of the war.