Tuesday, June 23, 2026

250 to 250: 26. New Madrid Earthquakes, Narrated by Conevery Bolton Valencius



Dr. Conevery Bolton Valencius is a Professor of History at Boston College, and author of “The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes” and “The Health of the Country: How American Settlers Understood Themselves and Their Land.” Dr. Valencius recounts the New Madrid earthquakes which reshaped the landscape, displaced Indigenous Americans, and prompted America's first disaster relief legislation.

  • The earthquakes happened near the Mississippi River.
  • The shaking was felt in many parts of the United States.
  • People felt the earthquakes as far away as New Haven and Washington, D.C.
  • At that time, few people lived near New Madrid.
  • The earthquakes changed rivers, swamps, and the landscape.
  • Travel routes in the region were affected.
  • Some Native American communities were forced to move farther west.
  • The earthquakes caused serious damage.
  • The U.S. government passed its first national disaster relief law after the earthquakes.
Over time, many people forgot about the New Madrid earthquakes.


POP Interview and Civics Quiz:
  • N-400 Part 9:37.  If the law requires it, are you willing to perform work of national importance under civilian direction (do non-military work that the U.S. Government says is important to the country)?
  • USCIS 100:88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
  • USCIS 128:18. What part of the federal government writes laws?


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