Historical Dictionary of the Early American Republic

(Hardback, Second Edition)

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The drafting and ratification of the federal constitution between 1787 and 1788 capped almost 30 years of revolutionary turmoil and warfare. The supporters of the new constitution, known at the time as Federalists, looked to the new national government to secure the achievements of the Revolution. But they shared the same doubts that the Anti-federalists had voiced about whether the republican form of government could be made to work on a continental scale. Nor was it a foregone conclusion that the new government would succeed in overcoming parochial interests to weld the separate states into a single nation. During the next four decades the institutions and precedents governing the behavior of the national government took shape, many of which are still operative today. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Early American Republic contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about American history.

Reviews

This second edition, published 11 years after the first edition, has added a new coeditor and greatly expanded the number of inclusions to more than 500 cross-referenced entries. The single most important expansion has been the bibliography on the War of 1812. . . . Typical of all the volumes in this series with which I am familiar, it is an excellent work. The popularity of the Broadway musical Hamilton has brought attention to early American history to a whole new audience and generation. This volume can expand upon that introduction. * American Reference Books Annual *
Overall, this is another good, solid entry in the Rowman & Littlefield Historical Dictionaries of USA Politics and Political Eras series and it comes, as always, in a handy volume. * s *

Author Bio

Richard Buel Jr. is emeritus professor of history at Wesleyan University and the author of six monographs on the revolutionary and early republican period. Jeffers Lennox is professor of North American history at Wesleyan University. His research focuses on eighteenth-century Acadia, the northeast, and relations between British North American colonies (early Canada) and the United States during the Revolutionary era.