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Volume 2 of History of the United States of America: From the Discovery of the Continent by George Bancroft. A major US history series in six volumes. "Author's Last Revision" 1883 by D. Appleton and Company.
Bancroft as US Secretary of the Navy established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He was a senior American diplomat in Europe, leading diplomatic missions to Britain and Germany. His comprehensive study of the origins and development of the United States caused him to be referred to as the "Father of American history."
From the Author's Preface regarding the Last Revision to the series: ... greater precision has been sought for; the fitter word that offered itself accepted; and, without the surrender of the right of history to pronounce its opinion, care has been taken never unduly to forestall the judgment of the reader, but to leave events as they sweep onward to speak their own condemnation or praise.
From a 2008 Review by Stephen W. Sawyer: For Bancroft, then, the historian brought the Revolution to life in the present in order that it might circulate within the country and throughout humanity. Bancroft was convinced that a poet-historian could uncover the democratic ideal that was unfolding in the American project.Dawes and Nichols argued that Bancroft was a sound historian in that he grounded his work in archival material. "George Bancroft was the first American historian who conscientiously endeavored to make no important statement without reference to an original document."
"The author exercises powers of narration which enable the reader to watch the drama of man's experience proceed like a splendid and inspiring pageant." (Dawes and Nichols 280) These remarks still capture an essential element of Bancroft's project. He saw his writing, literary or poetical as it may have been, as part of the "realization" of man's experience with democracy. This was the Bancroft that was celebrated in the first half of the nineteenth century, pushed aside in the nationalist consensus of American historical professionalism in the 1890s, and then rediscovered in the inter-war period. He was not describing a democracy that already existed in flowery prose, but employing the poet's pen to give life to a democratic project which he thought was in the making.
Editor's IntroductionAuthor's PrefaceCONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUMEHISTORY OF THE COLONIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PART IIICOLONIZATION OF THE WEST AND OF GEORGIACHAPTER I. THE SOUTHERN STATES AFTER THE REVOLUTIONCHAPTER II. THE MIDDLE STATES AFTER THE REVOLUTIONCHAPTER III. NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE REVOLUTIONCHAPTER IV. PARLIAMENT AND THE COLONIESCHAPTER V. THE RED MEN EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPICHAPTER VI. THE LANGUAGES AND MANNERS OF THE RED MENCHAPTER VII. POLITY AND RELIGION OF THE RED MENCHAPTER VIII. THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE RED MENCHAPTER IX. PROGRESS OF FRANCE IN NORTH AMERICACHAPTER X. FRANCE AND THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPICHAPTER XI. THE RIVALRY OF FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN IN AMERICACHAPTER XII. THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSIONCHAPTER XIII. OF THE BOUNDARIES OF BRITISH, FRENCH, AND SPANISH COLONIESCHAPTER XIV. PROGRESS OF LOUISIANACHAPTER XV. COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE HOUSE OF HANOVERCHAPTER XVI. THE BRITISH SLAVE-TRADE. COLONIZATION OF GEORGIACHAPTER XVII. WAR BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND SPAIN, 1739-1748
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN FIVE EPOCHSI. BRITAIN OVERTHROWS THE EUROPEAN COLONIAL SYSTEMCHAPTER I. AMERICA CLAIMS LEGISLATIVE INDEPENDENCE OF ENGLAND. HENRY PELHAM'S ADMINISTRATION, 1748CHAPTER II. THE ROYAL GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK APPEALS TO THE PARAMOUNT POWER OF BRITAIN. HENRY PELHAM'S ADMINISTRATION, 1748-1749CHAPTER III. THE EXPLORATION OF OHIO. PELHAM'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUEDCHAPTER IV. AMERICA REFUSES TO BE RULED BY ARBITRARY INSTRUCTIONS. PELHAM'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1751-1753CHAPTER V. FRANKLIN PLANS UNION FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. PELHAM'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1758-1754CHAPTER VI. THE OLD THIRTEEN COLONIES. NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATIONCHAPTER VII. THE MINISTERS ARE ADVISED TO TAX AMERICA BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATION, 1754-1755CHAPTER VIII. ENGLAND AND FRANCE CONTEND FOR THE OHIO VALLEY AND FOR ACADIA. NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1755CHAPTER IX. GREAT BRITAIN UNITES AMERICA UNDER MILITARY RULE. NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1755-1756CHAPTER X. THE ARISTOCRACY WITHOUT THE PEOPLE CANNOT GOVERN ENGLAND. NEWCASTLE'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED, 1756-1757CHAPTER XI. THE WHIG ARISTOCRACY CANNOT CONQUER CANADA. ANARCHY IN THE ADMINISTRATION, 1757CHAPTER XII. THE NEW PROTESTANT POWERS AGAINST THE CATHOLIC POWERS OF THE MIDDLE AGE. WILLIAM PITT'S MINISTRYCHAPTER XIII. CONQUEST OF THE VALLEY OF THE WEST. PITT'S MINISTRY, 1757-1758CHAPTER XIV. THE CONQUEST OF CANADA. PITT'S MINISTRY CONTINUED, 1759CHAPTER XV. INVASION OF THE VALLEY OF THE TENNESSEE. PITT'S MINISTRY, 1759-1760CHAPTER XVI. POSSESSION TAKEN OF THE COUNTRY ON THE LAKES. PITT'S MINISTRY, 1760CHAPTER XVII. THE KING AND THE ARISTOCRACY AGAINST THE GREAT COMMONER. GEORGE III DRIVES OUT PITT, 1760-1761CHAPTER XVIII. THE ACTS OF TRADE PROVOKE REVOLUTION. THE REMODELING OF THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS, 1761-1762CHAPTER XIX. THE KING DRIVES OUT THE NEWCASTLE WHIGS. THE DAWN OF THE NEW REPUBLIC, 1762-1768
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