The Papers of Henry Clay

The Papers of Henry Clay
Author: Henry Clay
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 1064
Release: 2014-10-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0813156688

Henry Clay's career spanned a half century of a great formative period in American history. The Papers of Henry Clay span the crucial first half of the nineteenth century in American history. Few men in his time were so intimately concerned with the formation of national policy, and few influenced so profoundly the growth of American political institutions.This compilation of ten volumes includes Clay's letters, letters to Clay, his speeches, and other documents identified as his personal composition. Publication of this book was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

For Honour's Sake

For Honour's Sake
Author: Mark Zuehlke
Publisher: Vintage Canada
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2010-07-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307370585

In the tradition of Margaret MacMillan’s Paris 1919 comes a new consideration of Canada’s most famous war and the Treaty of Ghent that unsatisfactorily concluded it, from one of this country’s premier military historians. In the Canadian imagination, the War of 1812 looms large. It was a war in which British and Indian troops prevailed in almost all of the battles, in which the Americans were unable to hold any of the land they fought for, in which a young woman named Laura Secord raced over the Niagara peninsula to warn of American plans for attack (though how she knew has never been discovered), and in which Canadian troops burned down the White House. Competing American claims insist to this day that, in fact, it was they who were triumphant. But where does the truth lie? Somewhere in the middle, as is revealed in this major new reconsideration from one of Canada’s master historians. Drawing on never-before-seen archival material, Zuehlke paints a vibrant picture of the war’s major battles, vividly re-creating life in the trenches, the horrifying day-to-day manoeuvring on land and sea, and the dramatic negotiations in the Flemish city of Ghent that brought the war to an unsatisfactory end for both sides. By focusing on the fraught dispute in which British and American diplomats quarrelled as much amongst themselves as with their adversaries, Zuehlke conjures the compromises and backroom deals that yielded conventions resonating in relations between the United States and Canada to this very day.

Interim Appointment

Interim Appointment
Author: Jared W. Bradley
Publisher: LSU Press
Total Pages: 696
Release: 2002-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780807126844

William C. C. Claiborne, the first governor of Orleans Territory, was at the hub of officials who grappled with the political, diplomatic, and administrative challenges that arose following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Letters both to and from Claiborne during the critical months of 1804–1805, mysteriously excluded in 1917 from Dunbar Rowland’s Official Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne, 1801–1816, are now made widely accessible, over half of them published here for the first time. To enhance appreciation of the letters, Jared William Bradley has furnished biographical sketches of thirty-one heretofore little-known individuals crucial to Claiborne’s correspondence, delineating their personalities and their contributions to the development of law and the establishment of American government in the French Creole society. Bradley also treats in four essays the origins and growth of the “Municipal,” or the New Orleans city council; two organizations of businessmen that were ensnared in the so-called Burr Conspiracy in 1807; and the early history of Fort St. Philip, which guarded access to New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico. Bradley’s essays joined with 218 of Claiborne’s letters makes Interim Appointment of incalculable value. It provides fresh insights into the political, constitutional, and social histories of Louisiana and the United States.

When Washington Burned

When Washington Burned
Author: Robert P. Watson
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2023-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1647123518

An insightful re-examination of one of the most dangerous moments in US history, the British assault on Washington, DC Perhaps no other single day in US history was as threatening to the survival of the nation as August 24, 1814, when British forces captured Washington, DC. This unique moment might have significantly altered the nation’s path forward, but the event and the reasons why it happened are little remembered by most Americans. When Washington Burned narrates and examines the British campaign and American missteps that led to the fall of Washington during the War of 1812. Watson analyzes the actions of key figures on both sides, such as President James Madison and General William Winder on the US side and Rear Admiral George Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross on the British side. He pinpoints the reasons the campaign was such a disaster for the United States but also tells the redeeming stories of the courageous young clerks and the bold first lady, Dolley Madison, who risked their lives to save priceless artifacts and documents from the flames, including the Constitution. The British invasion was repulsed over the coming weeks and months, and the United States ultimately emerged stronger. General readers interested in the history of Washington, US history, and military history will be fascinated by this book.

Revolutionary Brotherhood

Revolutionary Brotherhood
Author: Steven C. Bullock
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 442
Release: 2011-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807899852

In the first comprehensive history of the fraternity known to outsiders primarily for its secrecy and rituals, Steven Bullock traces Freemasonry through its first century in America. He follows the order from its origins in Britain and its introduction into North America in the 1730s to its near-destruction by a massive anti-Masonic movement almost a century later and its subsequent reconfiguration into the brotherhood we know today. With a membership that included Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere, and Andrew Jackson, Freemasonry is fascinating in its own right, but Bullock also places the movement at the center of the transformation of American society and culture from the colonial era to the rise of Jacksonian democracy. Using lodge records, members' reminiscences and correspondence, and local and Masonic histories, Bullock links Freemasonry with the changing ideals of early American society. Although the fraternity began among colonial elites, its spread during the Revolution and afterward allowed it to play an important role in shaping the new nation's ideas of liberty and equality. Ironically, however, the more inclusive and universalist Masonic ideas became, the more threatening its members' economic and emotional bonds seemed to outsiders, sparking an explosive attack on the fraternity after 1826. American History

The Dominion of War

The Dominion of War
Author: Fred Anderson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2005-11-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1101118792

Americans often think of their nation’s history as a movement toward ever-greater democracy, equality, and freedom. Wars in this story are understood both as necessary to defend those values and as exceptions to the rule of peaceful progress. In The Dominion of War, historians Fred Anderson and Andrew Cayton boldly reinterpret the development of the United States, arguing instead that war has played a leading role in shaping North America from the sixteenth century to the present. Anderson and Cayton bring their sweeping narrative to life by structuring it around the lives of eight men—Samuel de Champlain, William Penn, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Ulysses S. Grant, Douglas MacArthur, and Colin Powell. This approach enables them to describe great events in concrete terms and to illuminate critical connections between often-forgotten imperial conflicts, such as the Seven Years’ War and the Mexican-American War, and better-known events such as the War of Independence and the Civil War. The result is a provocative, highly readable account of the ways in which republic and empire have coexisted in American history as two faces of the same coin. The Dominion of War recasts familiar triumphs as tragedies, proposes an unconventional set of turning points, and depicts imperialism and republicanism as inseparable influences in a pattern of development in which war and freedom have long been intertwined. It offers a new perspective on America’s attempts to define its role in the world at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Warfare and Logistics along the US-Canadian Border during the War of 1812

Warfare and Logistics along the US-Canadian Border during the War of 1812
Author: Christopher D. Dishman
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0700632700

Christopher D. Dishman provides a comprehensive study of the combat that took place along the US-Canadian frontier during the War of 1812, where the bulk of the war’s fighting took place. The border region, which included the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes, served as Britain’s supply line to receive and distribute supplies. The region’s size, varied topography, and undeveloped infrastructure, however, made this a challenging environment to move troops and supplies to the battlefield. Few large settlements or all-season roads intersected the region, so reinforcements, food, or ammunition could be weeks or months away from their destination. Dishman analyzes the critical role of logistics and explains how the safe and timely arrival of soldiers, shipwrights, cannons, and other provisions often dictated a battle’s outcome before a shot was fired. The northern frontier between the United States and the British Empire remained the focus of US military efforts throughout the war. The president and Congress declared war on Britain to force its leaders to negotiate on bilateral issues, and America’s only viable offensive military option was to invade Canada. Victory for either side depended on enough men and materials arriving promptly at a remote outpost or dockyard from distant supply depots. Canada could not produce many of its needed items in-country, so America retained a distinct advantage with its indigenous metalworks and iron industries. These components proved critical in a war that depended on the rushed construction of vessels that could outgun their enemy. Warfare and Logistics along the US-Canadian Border during the War of 1812 is a deeply researched and highly readable assessment of the successes and failures of military operations from 1812 to 1814. The book also highlights the interdependencies between land and naval operations in the war and illuminates the influence of changing military and political factors on Britain's and America’s military objectives. Warfare and Logistics along the US-Canadian Border during the War of 1812 also evaluates the performance of the military and civilian officers as Dishman brings a distant war’s battles to life with stories from participating soldiers and civilians.

American Emperor

American Emperor
Author: David O. Stewart
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2012-10-16
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1439157200

No adventure in American history has been like Aaron Burr's. A canny and charismatic politician who rose to become third vice president of the new United States, Burr seemed to throw it all away in 1805 and 1806 in an extraordinary attempt to lead a secession of the American West.

The Life of William Apess, Pequot

The Life of William Apess, Pequot
Author: Philip F. Gura
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2015-03-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1469619997

The Pequot Indian intellectual, author, and itinerant preacher William Apess (1798–1839) was one the most important voices of the nineteenth century. Here, Philip F. Gura offers the first book-length chronicle of Apess's fascinating and consequential life. After an impoverished childhood marked by abuse, Apess soldiered with American troops during the War of 1812, converted to Methodism, and rose to fame as a lecturer who lifted a powerful voice of protest against the plight of Native Americans in New England and beyond. His 1829 autobiography, A Son of the Forest, stands as the first published by a Native American writer. Placing Apess's activism on behalf of Native American people in the context of the era's rising tide of abolitionism, Gura argues that this founding figure of Native intellectual history deserves greater recognition in the pantheon of antebellum reformers. Following Apess from his early life through the development of his political radicalism to his tragic early death and enduring legacy, this much-needed biography showcases the accomplishments of an extraordinary Native American.