America: The Critical Period (America, Great Crises In Our History Told by its Makers Book 4)

Volume 4 of this series of eye-witness accounts of American history sees the
young republic facing bankruptcy, conflicting land claims and threatened
mutinies. You'll read about the challenges and disputes, and the development and
expansion of the Union. In their own words, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and
colleagues report on the momentous Treaty of Paris, which established (for the
time being) the western and northern boundaries of the USA. A wealth of
fascinating contemporary material includes James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
on the constitution.

There are eye-witness accounts of the north-west fur trade, and of Washington's
inauguration as the new nation's first President. You'll read Senator Pinckney's
tale of the bitter Presidential election of 1800, and Napoleon's own brother's
account of the Emperor's determination to sell Louisiana. With these
authoritative sources at your fingertips, you can establish own interpretation
of these fascinating events.


Introduction To The Series

"After you've heard two eyewitness accounts of an auto accident, you begin to
worry about history." This observation, attributed to the comedian Henny
Youngman, summarizes the dilemma you face when you want to find out what really
happened in the past. When you read a history book, the "facts" are actually the
author's own interpretation, often colored by a conscious or unconscious wish to
have you share a particular point of view. You're one step (or many steps)
removed from the original source material.

That's why the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States compiled this 12-
volume collection of writings of people who actually witnessed the key events in
American history - the actual actors in the events or contemporary observers of
them. Past historians have spent decades locating, studying and consulting vast
amounts of material such as this. This meticulously chosen selection brings you
the essence of history as originally recorded by those who participated in it.

You'll be reading mostly eye-witness accounts, by people contemporary with the
events they describe, including many significant historical figures themselves.
So you can make your own assessments, draw your own conclusions and gain an
understanding of past events undistorted by the prejudices, assumptions and
selectivity of professional historians. In some instances where there aren't
reliable or easily accessible eye-witness accounts, the compilers have chosen
extracts from objective, authoritative historians of past generations such as
Francis Parkman whose judgements have stood the test of time.

The extracts chosen aren't dry as dust: they provide an exciting, highly
readable narrative from the living past. They're part of the primary source
material on which all historical research is based - and these e-books bring
this original, classic reporting to you directly. Through these accounts, your
knowledge of American history will be immeasurably greater, your understanding
of the key events in the building of the nation immensely increased.

Founded in 1899, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to foster camaderie among United States
veterans of overseas conflicts, from the Spanish-American War to Iraq and
Afghanistan, and to ensure that they receive due respect and entitlements for
the sacrifices they and their loved ones have made on behalf of the nation. With
this mission, the VFW has a natural desire to encourage a broad understanding
and appreciation of American history, and this essential collection of
historical documents makes a huge contribution to that aim.

This reissue was scanned, formatted and converted to e-book format by
Library4Science.com with the permission and encouragement of the VFW, to make
the series more accessible to a wider public. The VFW receives 50% of all
royalty revenue from these e-books. This book is about 300 print pages long.