The United States of America, Part 1: 1783-1830

Sixty years of almost uninterrupted Republican-Democratic administration were inaugurated with Thomas Jefferson in 1801. This period was auspiciously begun by correcting the abu...

Before the addition of Louisiana, the American settlements west of the Alleghenies extended in a thin wedge to the Mississippi, having the British Canadians on the north and the...

The United States, as a maritime nation, could scarcely expect to escape the maelstrom of war induced by the task of suppressing the French Revolution and Napoleon, a task which...

It is simply a deduction from facts given in the preceding pages to say that by 1825 the trans-Alleghenian region had come into its own. It was sufficient to itself in populatio...

In the manner of its formation and adoption the Constitution was the product of a confederation. In these respects, it was little in advance of the rejected Articles. Its streng...

Having been entrusted with the responsibility of administering the back lands, Congress immediately entered upon the work of arranging a method for their survey and sale, and of...

The only cloud on the horizon the day that John Adams became President lay in the direction of France and was caused by the Jay Treaty. It seemed impossible to keep peace with b...

When did the sovereign nation of the United States begin? From one point of view, it was called into existence by the motion for Independence passed by the Continental Congress...

No one can accuse Hamilton of failing to take advantage of these formative years in giving the new Government a strong bias toward centralisation. Although opposed by Jefferson,...

In predicting defeat as a result of the war measures, Randolph overlooked the facts of history. No party has ever failed to retain the affection of the people when making prepar...

Scarcely a failure of the Confederation Government can be found which does not lead in the last analysis to the financial situation both during and following the war. Suddenly p...

The suggestion, emanating from the unsuccessful gathering at Annapolis, that a convention of delegates be called from the several States to meet at Philadelphia the following ye...

The Democratic clubs, which Washington scored so roundly, and so unjustly as Jefferson thought, were simply reflexes of one phase of the French Revolution. They serve to illustr...

Even before the executive part of the new Government had been initiated, Congress attacked the most serious problem it had received from its predecessor. All were agreed that th...

The presidential election of 1800 was epoch-making in several meanings of the term. It was a reaction against the bold and defiant attitude of the party in power. It was a revol...

The rebirth of nationalism, which followed the War of 1812 in the New World, was likely sooner or later to come into conflict with the rebirth of monarchy, which followed the Na...

The statesmen who had won the fight for a new form of national government in the Philadelphia Convention lost no time in following it up through the various stages leading pract...

The ease with which the American domain had been permitted to extend to the Mississippi in the peace negotiations with Great Britain did not mean a freedom from future anxiety c...

Although the first years under an efficient form of national control were remarkably successful, inspiring what was really the first confidence in the free government of America...

The autumn of 1798 marked the extreme limits to which the leaders and party intentionally strengthening the Union were allowed to go at present. It was the culmination of Federa...

The story of the United States has frequently been told. It has been told in the spirit of boasting, as a marvel of local accomplishment. It has been told in the spirit of rever...