v. 1. Annual message of the President ; Report of the Secretary of the Interior ; Report of the Secretary of War ; Report of the Secretary of the Navy ; Report of the Postmaster-General -- v. 2. Report of the Secretary of War --
Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-361).
Summary
Examines how the spiritual beliefs and vision of America's founders shaped the country's history and culture and assesses the influence of the spiritual traditions of African slaves, Native Americans, and early mystical communities on colonial America.
"An eclectic mixture of autobiography, U.S. intellectual history, philosophical inquiry, and spiritual wonderment, this extended meditative essay examines "America as an Idea" by uncovering the latent wisdom of many of its shining lights: Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Walt Whitman. Needleman, a philosophy professor and author of Money and the Meaning of Life, reinterprets the lives of each of these leaders in the context of their strong spiritual beliefs and their contributions to unifying a deeply divided body politic. The author liberally quotes classical philosophers, historians, biographers, and the subjects themselves, and he often interjects his own life experiences and spiritual beliefs into his loosely structured narrative. Needleman also tackles what he considers to be America's two most grievous historical blemishes: the murder of Native American culture and slavery and suggests how America should confront these wrongs." [from the "Library Journal"]
Unique, locally printed version; varies slightly in pagination and layout from the online version.
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary
"This gripping biography from historians John Osborne and Christine Bombaro captures the story of an unlikely political hero who helped destroy American slavery. John A.J. Creswell was a son of the slaveholding South, a native of Maryland who attended Dickinson College in Pennsylvania in the 1840s. Creswell then became a leading Maryland Democrat and conservative businessman before the war. He did not speak out against the peculiar institution until deep into the secession conflict and then only under the pressure of wartime necessity. Yet he became one of the most pivotal abolitionists in the country. In 1864, Creswell helped secure passage of an antislavery constitution in Maryland, the first (and only) popular vote for abolition in any U.S. state. He also led off the final congressional debates for the Thirteenth Amendment in January 1865, with an eloquent address that showcased the changing times. Nor did Creswell stop with this newfound embrace of freedom. After the war, the Marylander also became an unlikely advocate for equality of opportunity. While serving as a Postmaster General during the Grant Administration, Creswell helped to integrate and modernize the federal post office system. Ultimately, John A.J. Creswell proved to be one of the more important American politicians of the nineteenth century, because he embraced the future in ways that many of his contemporaries simply never could."
Introducing the worst. President. Ever -- The Young Buck -- Up from Lancaster -- The man who would be president, again and again -- The election of 1856: the most consequential in American history -- The worst presidency begins -- The middle Buchanan presidency: hardly better -- Mr. Buchanan's War -- The legacy of the least of the lesser presidents.
The Steven and Janice Brose lectures in the Civil War era
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-116) and index.
Contents
Making their way to freedom -- The workings of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law -- Taking leave: fugitive slaves and the politics of slavery -- Conclusion: Counternarratives.
Summary
The 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, which mandated action to aid in the recovery of runaway slaves and denied fugitives legal rights if they were apprehended, quickly became a focal point in the debate over the future of slavery and the nature of the union. In Making Freedom, R. J. M. Blackett uses the experiences of escaped slaves and those who aided them to explore the inner workings of the Underground Railroad and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, while shedding light on the political effects of slave escape in southern states, border states, and the North. Blackett highlights the lives of those who escaped, the impact of the fugitive slave cases, and the extent to which slaves planning to escape were aided by free blacks, fellow slaves, and outsiders who went south to entice them to escape. Using these stories of particular individuals, moments, and communities, Blackett shows how slave flight shaped national politics as the South witnessed slavery beginning to collapse and the North experienced a threat to its freedom. [from the publisher]
Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-359) and index.
Contents
German soldiers in British service -- Subsidy treaties -- Recruitment patterns -- Social composition -- Into captivity -- Prisoners of war in western warfare -- Capture and surrender -- Prisoners of war -- The first prisoners of war in revolutionary hands, 1775-1776 -- German prisoners of war, 1776-1778 -- Provisions and exchange, 1778 -- The Convention Army, 1777-1781 -- Continuity and change, 1779-1783 -- Release and return -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Common German soldiers taken prisoner.
Summary
"Some 37,000 soldiers from six German principalities, collectively remembered as Hessians, entered service as British auxiliaries in the American War of Independence. At times, they constituted a third of the British army in North America, and thousands of them were imprisoned by the Americans. Despite the importance of Germans in the British war effort, historians have largely overlooked these men. Drawing on research in German military records and common soldiers' letters and diaries, Daniel Krebs places the prisoners on center stage in A Generous and Merciful Enemy, portraying them as individuals rather than simply as numbers in casualty lists. Setting his account in the context of British and European politics and warfare, Krebs explains the motivations of the German states that provided contract soldiers for the British army. We think of the Hessians as mercenaries, but, as he shows, many were conscripts. Some were new recruits; others, veterans. Some wanted to stay in the New World after the war. Krebs further describes how the Germans were made prisoners, either through capture or surrender, and brings to life their experiences in captivity from New England to Havana, Cuba. Krebs discusses prison conditions in detail, addressing both the American approach to war prisoners and the prisoners' responses to their experience. He assesses American efforts as a "generous and merciful enemy" to use the prisoners as economic, military, and propagandistic assets. In the process, he never loses sight of the impact of imprisonment on the POWs themselves. Adding new dimensions to an important but often neglected topic in military history, Krebs probes the origins of the modern treatment of POWs. An epilogue describes an almost-forgotten 1785 treaty between the United States and Prussia, the first in western legal history to regulate the treatment of prisoners of war."--Publisher's website.
xix, 321 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-308) and index.
Contents
The Gettysburg campaign : a brief chronology -- Prologue : the lay of the land; a sign of the times -- An afternoon in the badlands -- The season of disbelief -- Desolation's edge -- Flying thick like blackbirds -- Bold acts -- The wide eye of the storm -- The aftermath -- The seesaw of honor, or, How the pigpen was mightier than the sword -- Women and remembrance -- Making a living on hallowed land.
Summary
"In the summer of 1863, as Union and Confederate armies marched on southern Pennsylvania, the town of Gettysburg found itself thrust onto the center stage of war. The three days of fighting that ensued decisively turned the tide of the Civil War. In The Colors of Courage, Margaret Creighton narrates the tale of this crucial battle from the viewpoint of three unsung groups - women, immigrants, and African Americans - and reveals how wide the battle's dimensions were."
"Creighton draws on memoirs, letters, diaries, and newspapers to bring to life the individuals at the heart of her narrative. In telling the stories of these participants, Margaret Creighton has written a work of original history - a narrative that is sure to redefine the Civil War's most remarkable event."--Jacket.
x, 205 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-200) and index.
Contents
Setting the stage : the war, army, and community -- Martha Washington at Valley Forge : "the worthy partner of the worthiest of men" -- Martha Washington at the other encampments : a resolute and loyal lady -- Catharine Greene and Lucy Knox : the ladies come to Valley Forge -- Rebekah Biddle, Lady Stirling, and Alice Shippen at Valley Forge : "I should not be sorry to see you here" -- The women with Washington's "family" : slaves, servants, and spies -- Camp women at Valley Forge : "a caravan of wild beasts" -- Camp women with the Continental Army : cannonballs and cooking kettles -- The general returns to Valley Forge : a distinguished officer's musings -- Appendix: Making the myth of Martha Washington : nineteenth-century fantasy vs. eighteenth-century reality.
Summary
"[This book] tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge -- from those on society's lowest rungs to ladies of the upper echelon. Poor, dirty beings who clung to the very edge of survival, many camp women were soldiers' wives who worked as the army's washerwomen, nurses, cooks, or seamstresses. Though these women's written correspondence is scarce, author Nancy Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war, and soldiers' descriptions to bring these women to life. Other women at the encampment were of higher status: they traveled with Washington's entourage when the army headquarters shifted from place to place and served the general as valued cooks, laundresses, or housekeepers ... Drawing from diary entries and letters, Following the drum illuminates the experiences of these ladies, including Martha Washington, Lucy Knox, and Lady Stirling, during the encampment and then traces their lives after the Revolutionary War"--Jacket.