(Via Opening Arguments) Jonathan Clark Smith of Hanover College sheds more light on the origin of the term “Hoosier” in the June edition of the Indiana Magazine of History.
In the article, “Not Southern Scorn but Local Pride: The Origin of the Word Hoosier and Indiana’s River Culture,” Smith reports his discovery of two previously unnoticed references to the term in the newspapers of 1831. Both relate the word specifically to the then-hot political issue of river transportation and canal building. Reviewing other sources — including the first-known use of the term in a February 1831 letter — Smith concludes that Indiana’s nickname originated not as a derisive term for the state’s southern migrants but as an indication of local pride in those who sought to improve the state’s economy. Hoosiers were boatmen who made a living on Indiana’s canals and rivers and who, therefore, supported government-sponsored development of water transportation.
There is already a pretty good Wikipedia entry on the term and its origins.
They were socialists!?! Haha Great find Doug.
I thought the same thing, Brian. Ironic.
Indiana’s adventure in state-supported canal construction in the first half of the 19th century was an unmitigated economic disaster for the state. The canals were were competively blown away by railways within a generation. “Government-sponsered development of water transportation” in this case turned out to be a great example of the state picking a loser.
Not socialism, but state capitalism.
Greetings from Southern Indiana.
I will retain the wikipedia reference entry; “…white farmers who did not own slaves or large plantations…”.
That describes what I know of my heritage.