Empire of Liberty A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815

by Wood, Gordon S.

• ISBN13: 9780195039146
• ISBN10: 0195039149
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-10-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book is a history of the early Republic from 1789 and the beginning of the national government under the Constitution to 1815 and the end of the War of 1812. The period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of the European powers Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite many manumissions and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country.

Author Biography

Gordon S. Wood is Alvo O. Way Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. ix
Editor's Introduction	p. xvii
Abbreviations Used in Citations	p. xvii
Introduction: Rip Van Winkle's America	p. 1
Experiment in Republicanism	p. 5
A Monarchical Republic	p. 53
The Federalist Program	p. 95
The Emergence of the Jeffersonian Republican Party	p. 140
The French Revolution in America	p. 174
John Adams and the Few and the Many	p. 209
The Crisis of 1798-1799	p. 239
The Jeffersonian Revolution of 1800	p. 276
Republican Society	p. 315
The Jeffersonian West	p. 357
Law and an Independent Judiciary	p. 400
Chief Justice John Marshall and the Origins of Judicial Review	p. 433
Republican Reforms	p. 469
Between Slavery and Freedom	p. 508
The Rising Glory of America	p. 543
Republican Religion	p. 576
Republican Diplomacy	p. 620
he War of 1812	p. 659
A World Within Themselves	p. 701
Bibliographical Essay	p. 739
Index	p. 753
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