Fighting for America

by Black, Jeremy

• ISBN13: 9780253356604
• ISBN10: 0253356601
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-06
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

This well-written history traces the competition for control of North America from the landing of Spanish troops under Hernan Cort#xE9;s in modern Mexico in 1519 until 1871 when, with the Treaty of Washington and the withdrawal of most British garrisons, Britain accepted American mastery in North America. In this wide-ranging narrative, prize-winning author Jeremy Black makes clear that the process by which America gained supremacy was far from inevitable. The story Black tells is one of conflict, diplomacy, geopolitics, and politics, whose eventual result was the creation of a United States of America that ultimately stretched from Atlantic to Pacific and dominated North America. The gradual withdrawal of France and Spain, the British accommodation (especially after 1815) to the expanding U.S. reality, the impact of the American Civil War, and the subjugation of Native peoples, are all carefully drawn out. The emphasis is on contingency not Manifest Destiny, as American exceptionalism is reconceptualized to take note of the pressures and impact of international competition.

Table of Contents

Preface & Acknowledgments	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Sixteenth-Century Background	p. 20
Creating New Frontiers 1600-74	p. 37
Britain, France, and the Natives 1674-1715	p. 49
Multiple Currents 1715-53	p. 59
War for Dominance 1754-64	p. 74
Britain Triumphant to America Independent 1765-76	p. 91
Britain Defeated 1775-83	p. 101
Flexing Muscles 1783-1811	p. 120
Florida, but Not Canada: From the War of 1812 to the Monroe Doctrine 1812-23	p. 160
Expansionism and Its Problems 1823-43	p. 192
From the Oregon Question to the Gadsden Purchase 1844-53	p. 230
A Great Power in the Making? America 1853-61	p. 264
America Divided 1861-63	p. 293
Winning the War 1863-65	p. 321
Settling the North American Question 1865-71	p. 350
Postscript 1871-2010	p. 381
Conclusions	p. 387
Notes	p. 397
Index	p. 449
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.