Author: Edmund Cody BurnettPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 664
Book Description
Letters of Members of the Continental Congress
Author: Edmund Cody BurnettPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 664
Book Description
Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, Vol. 1
Author: Edmund C. BurnettPublisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780332191638
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 644
Book Description
Excerpt from Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, Vol. 1: August 29, 1774 to July 4, 1776 Some part of Duane's notes were long ago published in S. W. Jones's Memoir, but other parts have not, it is believed, before appeared in print. Of some of them, unfortunately, only imperfect copies have been found. Of other items of the sort that have been mentioned only small portions have heretofore been printed. There are few diaries Of delegates covering the periods of their service in Congress, and fewer still that are of first-rate importance. That Of John Adams is perhaps the best known and has long been accessible. With some breaks it extends over his entire period of service, from Sep tember, 1774, to November, 1777, but as a rule it touches the proceedings of Congress only incidentally. The diary of Richard Smith, extending from September, 1775, to March, 1776, was first made available in 1896, in volume I. Of the American Historical Review. It is essentially a diary of proceedings in Congress and contains much information not elsewhere to be found. Samuel Ward's diary, published in 1877, in volume I. Of the Magazine of American History, is more abbreviated in its entries and Often contains little or no information not found in the journals. It comes to an end November 2, 177 5. The diary of John Fell of New Jersey, which covers the period from November 29, I 778, to November 30, I 779, has not been published. It is comparable with that Of Richard Smith, although the entries are by no means so extensive. The diary Of Samuel Holten Of Massachusetts, extending from May, I 778, to August, 1780 (published in the Essex Institute Historical Collections, 1919 - 1920) makes only the briefest references to the proceedings of Congress; and that of William Samuel Johnson 1785-1786) is even less informing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Letters of Members of the Continental Congress
Author: Edmund Cody BurnettPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 650
Book Description
Letters of Members of the Continental Congress
Author: United States. Continental CongressPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 724
Book Description
Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams, During the Revolution
Author: John AdamsPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Presidents
Languages : en
Pages : 472
Book Description
Democracy in Darkness
Author: Katlyn Marie CarterPublisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300274459
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394
Book Description
How debates over secrecy and transparency in politics during the eighteenth century shaped modern democracy Does democracy die in darkness, as the saying suggests? This book reveals that modern democracy was born in secrecy, despite the widespread conviction that transparency was its very essence. In the years preceding the American and French revolutions, state secrecy came to be seen as despotic—an instrument of monarchy. But as revolutionaries sought to fashion representative government, they faced a dilemma. In a context where gaining public trust seemed to demand transparency, was secrecy ever legitimate? Whether in Philadelphia or Paris, establishing popular sovereignty required navigating between an ideological imperative to eradicate secrets from the state and a practical need to limit transparency in government. The fight over this—dividing revolutionaries and vexing founders—would determine the nature of the world’s first representative democracies. Unveiling modern democracy’s surprisingly shadowy origins, Carter reshapes our understanding of how government by and for the people emerged during the Age of Revolutions.
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies
Author: John DickinsonPublisher: New York : Outlook Company
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Classified
Author: David B. FrostPublisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147662951X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
When the framers of the Constitution gathered in the summer of 1787, their deliberations were shrouded in secrecy. The Pennsylvania State House was locked, armed guards were posted and the 55 delegates of the Constitutional Convention were sworn to secrecy by presiding officer George Washington. Ordinary Americans were allowed no role in shaping the country's national charter. Its principle architect, James Madison, believed secrecy was necessary to prevent "a thousand of erroneous and perhaps mischievous reports," and directed that his personal notes from the Convention not be published until after his death. Secrecy has always played a role in American governance, from the First Continental Congress to the Manhattan Project to today's controversial procedures for protecting national security. The author examines the balance between the ideal of openness in government and the real world need for secrecy, and the political accommodations that have been made for each.
The Revolutionary War
Author: Charles P. NeimeyerPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313027331
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
Nearly everyone in the U.S. has studied the Revolutionary War. Too often, however, historians of the Revolution focus on the activity of the army without noticing what was taking place inside the army. Making liberal use of diaries and correspondence by the soldiers and their families, Charles P. Neimeyer tells the stories of the men and women who fought for the young country's independence. Sometimes starting off as rag-tag groups of men shooting off their muskets at geese just for the thrill of the sound, the soldiers became more disciplined and focused. The army recruited a significant number of African American soldiers, who fought side by side with whites. Women also fought and served in the army, either masquerading as male soldiers or providing support for army operations in camp and on the march. Suffering through times of numbing cold and starvation where men boiled their shoes for food, the sheer perseverance of the soldiers in the ranks ultimately won the war for independence. Presenting stories from letters and diaries of the men and women of the time, this volume reveals the stories of fear, exhaustion, hard work, grief, and exhilaration of the people in the camps and on the march. Highlights include: ; Recruitment, which included just about any healthy man willing to serve, including immigrants and enemy POWs ; General Washington's attempts to create a model, respectable army ; Attempts at medical treatment, and the ravages of smallpox, which left men dying at makeshift hospitals ; African American soldiers in the War ; Women's contributions to war efforts, whether in disguise as soldiers, or in filling in for husbands killed in battle ; Daily life in the camp: the monotony, the lack of food and supplies, drinking, sleeping in huts and out in the open, games, letter writing and religious observations ; The failure to fairly pay the soldiers as they mustered out of service The book also includes a timeline that puts dates and events in better perspective; a comprehensive, topically arranged bibliography; and a thorough index.
Slavery’s Fugitives and the Making of the United States Constitution
Author: Timothy Messer-KrusePublisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807183334
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 237
Book Description
Slavery’s Fugitives and the Making of the United States Constitution unearths a long-hidden factor that led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. While historians have generally acknowledged that patriot leaders assembled in response to postwar economic chaos, the threat of popular insurgencies, and the inability of the states to agree on how to fund the national government, Timothy Messer-Kruse suggests that scholars have discounted Americans’ desire to compel Britain to return fugitives from slavery as a driving force behind the convention. During the Revolutionary War, British governors offered freedom to enslaved Americans who joined the king’s army. Thousands responded by fleeing to English camps. After the British defeat at Yorktown, American diplomats demanded the surrender of fugitive slaves. When British generals refused, several states confiscated Loyalist estates and blocked payment of English creditors, hoping to apply enough pressure on the Crown to hand over the runaways. State laws conflicting with the 1783 Treaty of Paris violated the Articles of Confederation—the young nation’s first constitution—but Congress, lacking an executive branch or a federal judiciary, had no means to obligate states to comply. The standoff over the escaped slaves quickly escalated following the Revolution as Britain failed to abandon the western forts it occupied and took steps to curtail American commerce. More than any other single matter, the impasse over the return of enslaved Americans threatened to hamper the nation’s ability to expand westward, develop its commercial economy, and establish itself as a power among the courts of Europe. Messer-Kruse argues that the issue encouraged the founders to consider the prospect of scrapping the Articles of Confederation and drafting a superseding document that would dramatically increase federal authority—the Constitution.