Author: Joshua C. Kendall
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780399156991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 355
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Book Description
Chronicles of the story of the first American-English dictionary's creator, revealing his close associations with George Washington and Ben Franklin as well as his authorship of an influential school primer and advocacy of a distinct American culture. 25,000 first printing.
Author: Jeff Broadwater
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807877395
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352
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Book Description
George Mason (1725-92) is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today, but in his service to America he was, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "of the first order of greatness." Jeff Broadwater provides a comprehensive account of Mason's life at the center of the momentous events of eighteenth-century America. Mason played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis, the American Revolution, and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a document often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights. As a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Mason influenced the emerging Constitution on point after point. Yet when he was rebuffed in his efforts to add a bill of rights and concluded the document did too little to protect the interests of the South, he refused to sign the final draft. Broadwater argues that Mason's recalcitrance was not the act of an isolated dissenter; rather, it emerged from the ideology of the American Revolution. Mason's concerns about the abuse of political power, Broadwater shows, went to the essence of the American experience.
Author: Stephen Mansfield
Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
ISBN: 9781581821659
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
For many of those who are even familiar with his name, George Whitefield is thought of as a preacher, a man connected with the Great Awakening in the 1700s. While this is true, it is only part of the story. As a student at Oxford University, he experienced a spiritual awakening under the influence of John Wesley's Methodists and immediately began tending to prisoners, caring for the poor, and preaching the Christian gospel. He met with astounding success, in time speaking to larger crowds than had ever gathered in the history of England. Whitefield became the most famous man of his age. His impact upon the American colonies, however, may have been his most lasting gift. In seven tours of the colonies, Whitfield preached from Georgia to Maine, calling the colonists to spiritual conversion and challenging them in their sense of national destiny. He befriended men like Benjamin Franklin, converted men like Patrick Henry, and inspired men like George Washington. Furthermore, when he learned that England intended to tighten her control over the colonies, Whitefield warmed his American friends in sermon after sermon and even accompanied Benjamin Franklin to make the American case in the Court of Saint James. Many of the colonists considered him the father of their revolution. Forgotten Founding Father captures the early struggles and international successes of this amazing leader. The result is a portrait of a gifted but flawed human who yielded himself as a tool in the hands of a sovereign God. Also portrayed is how important Whitfield was to the American cause and how much Americans today owe to him -- a story that will inspire a new generation with a past vividly and truthfully retold.
Author: Bruce Elliott Johansen
Publisher: Ipswich, Mass. : Gambit
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 200
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Book Description
How Native Americans contributed to the early American Republic and its Constitution.
Author: Gary B Nash
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674041348
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248
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Book Description
As the United States gained independence, a full fifth of the country's population was African American. The experiences of these men and women have been largely ignored in the accounts of the colonies' glorious quest for freedom. In this compact volume, Gary B. Nash reorients our understanding of early America, and reveals the perilous choices of the founding fathers that shaped the nation's future. Nash tells of revolutionary fervor arousing a struggle for freedom that spiraled into the largest slave rebellion in American history, as blacks fled servitude to fight for the British, who promised freedom in exchange for military service. The Revolutionary Army never matched the British offer, and most histories of the period have ignored this remarkable story. The conventional wisdom says that abolition was impossible in the fragile new republic. Nash, however, argues that an unusual convergence of factors immediately after the war created a unique opportunity to dismantle slavery. The founding fathers' failure to commit to freedom led to the waning of abolitionism just as it had reached its peak. In the opening decades of the nineteenth century, as Nash demonstrates, their decision enabled the ideology of white supremacy to take root, and with it the beginnings of an irreparable national fissure. The moral failure of the Revolution was paid for in the 1860s with the lives of the 600,000 Americans killed in the Civil War. "The Forgotten Fifth" is a powerful story of the nation's multiple, and painful, paths to freedom.
Author: Francis J. Bremer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195179811
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 516
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Book Description
Providing a path-breaking treatment of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Bremer explores the life of America's forgotten Founding Father. 18 halftones & line illustrations.
Author: Michael S. Law
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
ISBN: 1683505867
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213
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Book Description
A historian’s “revealing and much-needed retelling of the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the events that led up to it” (William D. Watkins, author of The New Absolutes). Tying American history to our current political climate, The Founders’ Revolution is designed to help readers understand the principles embedded in the Declaration of Independence. The book unpacks the intent of the Founding Fathers in drafting the document, and the historical circumstances surrounding its development. Every charge and every paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is discussed with supporting evidence coming from the original words of the Founding Fathers and other original source documents. The Founders’ Revolution also makes astute comparisons between actions taken by America’s current federal government and those taken by the King of England at the time of the Declaration, showing how our founding document and its principles are still applicable today. In this revealing history, readers will rediscover the forgotten treasures of the Declaration of Independence, recognizing the dedication of the Founding Fathers to the principles written down.
Author: John M. Pafford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780788450099
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 207
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Book Description
As the third century of American history develops, it is essential to renew our knowledge of and respect for the beliefs upon which this country was founded and the great men who propounded them. The most significant Founding Fathers of our country include: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. Jay is the least known today; however, in his time, he was considered by many to be the logical successor to Washington as chief executive of the new country. Among the positions he held were: president of the Continental Congress, minister plenipotentiary to Spain, member of the peace commission which negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, secretary for foreign affairs, co-author of The Federalist, first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, and two-term Governor of New York. In retirement, he was president of the American Bible Society. This detailed account of John Jay examines his life, his character, and his legacy. A chronology and a bibliography enhance the text.
Author: Joseph A. Murray
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 087586502X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
Alexander Hamilton: AmericaOCOs Forgotten Founder describes the character and achievements of a man who was instrumental in casting the form of our government and especially its strong financial structure. His financial innovations renewed the public credit when war debts threatened to swamp the fledgling economy, provided a stable currency system and established a federal revenue system. Hamilton s involvement in the foreign affairs of the new republic assured its unity, sovereignty and rapid economic growth. Born in the West Indies, Alexander Hamilton migrated to America when he was fifteen years old, at a time when Colonial America was torn by political unrest with Great Britain. He served in the Revolution as General Washington s chief aide-de-camp and as an officer in combat units. He was a persuasive presence in the Constitutional Convention and helped to lead the subsequent ratification process. Hamilton was a proponent for a strong central government, believing that its direct influence over the people would strengthen the unity of the country. As Secretary of the Treasury, he understood that a strong financial system was essential to provide credibility and economic growth to the new republic. He based his financial plan on the consolidation of the national debt and the adoption of a taxation system to service and retire that debt. He promoted the chartering of the Bank of the United States as the keystone to his financial plan. Arguably the Father of Federalism, Hamilton gave more to the structure and process of the United States government then any other single individual. His opponents, principally the Jeffersonian Republicans, argued for greater sovereignty for state governments and sought to diminish the role of wealth in structuring and operating the financial systems of the country. When it came, the Civil War vindicated Hamilton s politics over Jefferson s view of a more tenuous and tentative union. He authored the lion s share of The Federalist Papers, writings which remain an important guide to the meaning and the intended function of the Constitution today. Regrettably, the hostility of his political opponents has transcended the country s recognition of the debt owed to this man. This work introduces the general reader to some of the challenges and controversies of the early days of the Republic and highlights Hamilton s brilliant contributions to US policy and structure. Hamilton promoted a vigorous national government to create a strong and unified country out of a mixed bag of 13 sovereign states. This book was written for the broad cross-section of American readers, particularly those who, while not having an abiding interest in history, would welcome an interestingly written, brief history of Hamilton s life and the great events surrounding the founding of the nation. The book is also suited for high school and college-level students of US history. Most Americans today have little understanding of the character, the life and accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton, an extraordinary man by any account and an extraordinary American. The current work intends to make his life and accomplishments accessible to a broader public."
Author: T. H. Breen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674242068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273
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Book Description
“Important and lucidly written...The American Revolution involved not simply the wisdom of a few great men but the passions, fears, and religiosity of ordinary people.” —Gordon S. Wood In this boldly innovative work, T. H. Breen spotlights a crucial missing piece in the stories we tell about the American Revolution. From New Hampshire to Georgia, it was ordinary people who became the face of resistance. Without them the Revolution would have failed. They sustained the commitment to independence when victory seemed in doubt and chose law over vengeance when their communities teetered on the brink of anarchy. The Will of the People offers a vivid account of how, across the thirteen colonies, men and women negotiated the revolutionary experience, accepting huge personal sacrifice, setting up daring experiments in self-government, and going to extraordinary lengths to preserve the rule of law. After the war they avoided the violence and extremism that have compromised so many other revolutions since. A masterful storyteller, Breen recovers the forgotten history of our nation’s true founders. “The American Revolution was made not just on the battlefields or in the minds of intellectuals, Breen argues in this elegant and persuasive work. Communities of ordinary men and women—farmers, workers, and artisans who kept the revolutionary faith until victory was achieved—were essential to the effort.” —Annette Gordon-Reed “Breen traces the many ways in which exercising authority made local committees pragmatic...acting as a brake on the kind of violent excess into which revolutions so easily devolve.” —Wall Street Journal
