A History of the People of the United St
A History of the People of the United St

Author: John Bach McMaster

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2006-06-01

Total Pages: 661

ISBN-13: 1596050381

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For the first time in the history of the country the office of President was open to competition. Twice had Washington been chosen by the unanimous vote of the electoral college, and twice inaugurated with the warmest approbation of the whole people. But the times had greatly changed. In 1789 and 1792 every man was for him. In 1796, in every town and city of the land were men who denounced him as an aristocrat, as a monocrat, as an Anglomaniac, and who never mentioned his name without rage in their hearts and curses on their lips. -from "The British Treaty of 1794" A bestseller when it was first published in 1883, this second volume of historian John Bach McMaster's magnum opus is a lively history of the United States that is as entertaining as it is informative. Eventually stretching to eight volumes, McMaster's epic was original in its emphasis on social and economic conditions as deciding factors in shaping a nation's culture: in addition to the words and actions of great men and the outcomes of significant skirmishes and battles, McMaster indulges his obsession with fascinating trivia, from the positively European cleanliness of New England inns to the uncouth rudeness of theatergoers in American playhouses. Volume 2, covering the rise of the South in the immediate postwar period to the embarkation of Lewis and Clark on their legendary expedition, is a compulsively readable account of the early years of the new nation, and covers such intriguing and unlikely topics as how the new nation's postal laws impacted the readership of newspapers, the furious arguments of the federal government's relationship with France, the difficulties in introducing U.S. currency, and more. OF INTERESTTO: readers of American history AUTHOR BIO: American historian JOHN BACH MCMASTER (1852-1932) taught at the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, from 1883 to 1919. He also wrote Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters (1887) and A School History of the United States (1897), which became a definitive textbook.

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 30
The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 30

Author: Thomas Jefferson

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 799

ISBN-13: 0691185352

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the thirteen months covered by this volume, Thomas Jefferson spent more than half of his time in Philadelphia serving as vice president under President John Adams and presiding over a Senate that was dominated by his political opponents, the Federalists. Debates in Congress took place against a backdrop of bitter partisan rivalry, characterized most famously by the near-brawl on the floor of the House between Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold. Congress and the nation waited, in a "state of extraordinary suspense," for dispatches from the American envoys in France. When the accounts of the XYZ Affair became public, the nation prepared for war. Two days after the Alien Friends Act was signed into law Jefferson left for Monticello, stopping at Montpelier to convey the latest news to James Madison. Disheartened and frustrated by the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson penned the famous resolutions adopted in November by the Kentucky legislature. He kept his authorship a secret, however, seeking to avoid any appearance of "rashness" by Republicans. This endeavor reflected his struggle to make sense of the political direction of the nation in times he could neither comprehend nor accept. Jefferson continued to engage in scientific pursuits and fulfill his role as a promoter of American science and learning. He was reelected to the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, to which he presented his paper on the moldboard plow. He corresponded on American Indian languages, astronomy, and the Anglo-Saxon language. He longed for Monticello, and, as Jefferson had learned before, his property fell into neglect when he was away on public business. Renovations to the house slowed, supplies for the nailery were disrupted, and he had to arrange for the sale of his crops through intermediaries. With the prices of wheat low, he was drawn back into financial dependence on tobacco.