Terri Wangard

Uniting the States

by Brian Kilmeade

 

This book examines six men who played pivoting roles in the early years of the United States.

John Adams defended the British soldiers who fired on the colonists in the Boston Massacre. I don’t remember learning that before, and I was a college history major. He gave the courts the concept of reasonable doubt.

George Washington found a way to lead his ragtag army to victory in the Revolutionary War. This was a self-taught man who hadn’t gone to college. He amassed a library of over 900 books. Oh, and he led a battle in Ohio that may have ignited the French & Indian War.

Daniel Shays stood up for the rights of farmers and lost everything. Farmers were land-rich and cash-poor. Thus heavier taxes were levied on them than town merchants. The rich and powerful did not welcome challenges to their authority (and wallets) and reacted viciously.

Thomas Jefferson acquired the Louisiana Purchase. All trade from the heartland passed through the port of New Orleans, which belonged to first Spain, then France. Jefferson planned a clandestine exploration by military men to cross into foreign territory. Napolean’s failure to put down a revolt in Haiti let him to offer not only New Orleans and West Florida that Jefferson hoped to purchase, but also the vast interior west of the Mississippi. Jefferson wondered if adding territory was even legal. Significantly, the acquisition was accomplished without bloodshed.

James Madison renewed the fight for freedom from Great Britain in the War of 1812. The British were grabbing Americans off of American ships to serve in their navy. They also interfered with American trade with their enemy France. They hadn’t gotten the message that they’d lost the American colonies in the Revolutionary War.

And John Quincy Adams launched a campaign against slavery. He didn’t experience a typical boy’s teen years. At fourteen in 1782, he served as private secretary to America’s minister to Russia. He spent his free time in the library, learning German, perfecting his French, and practicing Latin and Greek. Before joining his father in The Hague, he explored Stockholm on his own for a month. He served as Dad’s primary aide during peace negotiations leading to the Treaty of Paris. Then, at age eighteen, he entered Harvard.

For American history buffs, this is well worth your time.