{"product_id":"book-czei","title":"The Pioneers","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that’s “\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eas resonant today as ever” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e)—the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eMcCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam; Cutler’s son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science. “With clarity and incisiveness, [McCullough] details the experience of a brave and broad-minded band of people who crossed raging rivers, chopped down forests, plowed miles of land, suffered incalculable hardships, and braved a lonely frontier to forge a new American ideal” (\u003ci\u003eThe Providence Journal\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDrawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figures, \u003ci\u003eThe Pioneers\u003c\/i\u003e is a uniquely American story of people whose ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments. “A tale of uplift” (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e), this is a quintessentially American story, written with David McCullough’s signature narrative energy.","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audio CD [40]","offer_id":49347155657008,"sku":"40czei","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49347155624240,"sku":"BDczei","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/czei-cover.jpg?v=1761358297","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-czei","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}