American beasts : perspectives on animals, animality and U.S. culture, 1776-1920 / Dominik Ohrem (ed.).

"In American history, animals are everywhere. They are a ubiquitous presence in myriad historical, literary, biographical, scientific and other documents and narratives of the American past--a past that, just like the present, was shaped by a multiplicity of relations between humans and other creatures, ranging from coexistence and conviviality to hostility, subjugation and extermination. While such quintessentially American species as the bison, the mustang or the grizzly continue to roam the discursive, imaginary and, now to a much lesser degree, the geographical spaces of the nation, the less iconic creatures of civilization--the various species of domesticated working and companion animals--have arguably played an even more critical role in the genesis of modern American culture and society throughout the 'long nineteenth century.'"--Page 4 of cover.