Since the Revolution, Americans have debated what action the military should take toward civilians suspected of espionage, treason, or revolutionary activity. This important book-the first to present a comprehensive history of military surveillance in the United States-traces the evolution of America's internal security policy during the past two hundred years. Joan M. Jensen discusses how the federal government has used the army to intervene in domestic crises and how Americans have protested the violation of civil liberties and applied political pressure to limit military intervention in civil disputes. Although movements to expand and to constrain the military have each dominated during different periods in American history, says Jensen, the involvement of the army in internal security has increased steadily. Jensen describes a wide range of events and individuals connected to this process. These include Benedict Arnold's betrayal of West Point; the colonial wars in Cuba, where Lt. Andrew Rowan, the nation's first officer spy, won a medal for carrying a "Message for Garcia"; the development of "War Plans White" in the 1920s to guide the army's response in the event of domestic rebellion; the activities of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI in the 1950s and 1960s; the use of the National Guard in the South at the height of the civil rights movement; and the surveillance of and violence against protesters during the Vietnam War. Scrutinizing the historic workings of the American government at closer range than has ever been done before, Jensen creates a vivid picture of the growing invisible intelligence empire within the United States government and of the men who created it.

This book tells the story of the thousands of "health seekers" who journeyed to New Mexico from 1870 to 1940 seeking a cure for tuberculosis (TB), the leading killer in the United States at the time -- and is today the leading infectious killer worldwide. By 1920, 10% of all New Mexico residents were TB sufferers who had come to the state for the fresh air, the high, dry climate, and the endless sunshine thought beneficial to the illness. Writers, painters, architects, doctors, lawyers, business leaders -- all of these came for the cure and many stayed to form influential salons or play a critical role in the state's struggle for statehood. The story of art, health and financial growth has a seedy underside, however, when it was discovered the native Hispanos and American Indians were being infected by the influx of "lungers". Many of these people were neglected and died. Then, when the prosperous era of health seekers moving to New Mexico ended, it ended quickly -- antibiotics became available and were a reliable cure. The sanatoriums closed; a legacy with many points of light remains.

Over the first half of the twentieth century, scientist and scholar Frances Densmore (1867-1957) visited thirty-five Native American tribes, recorded more than twenty-five hundred songs, amassed hundreds of artifacts and Native-crafted objects, and transcribed information about Native cultures. Her visits to indigenous groups included meetings with the Ojibwes, Lakotas, Dakotas, Northern Utes, Ho-chunks, Seminoles, and Makahs. A "New Woman" and a self-trained anthropologist, she not only influenced government attitudes toward indigenous cultures but also helped mold the field of anthropology. Densmore remains an intriguing historical figure. Although researchers use her vast collections at the Smithsonian and Minnesota Historical Society, as well as her many publications, some scholars critique her methods of "salvage anthropology" and concepts of the "vanishing" Native American. Travels with Frances Densmore is the first detailed study of her life and work. Through narrative descriptions of her life paired with critical essays about her work, this book is an essential guide for understanding how Densmore formed her collections and the lasting importance they have had for researchers in a variety of fields.

The first book to investigate the rich and complex lives of rural women during the late colonial and early national periods. Jensen focuses on women in the Philadelphia hinterland and shows how they became an essential part of that area's rise to agricultural prominence. Examining not only the Quakers, who formed the dominant group in the region, but also black and other ethnic groups, Jensen offers fascinating details on the ways farm women functioned in the varied spheres of their lives. Her book makes a major contribution to women's history.