A Sovereign People, Carol Berkin
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A Sovereign People
The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism

Author: Carol Berkin

Narrator: Betsy Foldes Meiman

Unabridged: 10 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 05/02/2017


Synopsis

The momentous story of how George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams navigated the crises of the 1790s and in the process bound the states into a unified nation

Today the United States is the dominant power in world affairs, and that status seems assured. Yet in the decade following the ratification of the Constitution, the republic's existence was contingent and fragile, challenged by domestic rebellions, foreign interference, and the always-present danger of collapse into mob rule.

Carol Berkin reveals that the nation survived almost entirely due to the actions of the Federalist leadership -- George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams. Reacting to successive crises, they extended the power of the federal government and fended off foreign attempts to subvert American sovereignty. As Berkin argues, the result was a spike in nationalism, as ordinary citizens began to identify with their nation first, their home states second.

While the Revolution freed the states and the Constitution linked them as never before, this landmark work shows that it was the Federalists who transformed the states into an enduring nation.

Author Bio

Carol Berkin is the author of numerous books, including Wondrous Beauty: The Life and Adventures of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, The History Handbook, and Civil War Wives. She is the Presidential Professor of History at Baruch College and a member of the history faculty of the Graduate Center of CUNY, Emerita, where she taught early American and women's history. She has worked as a consultant on several PBS and History Channel documentaries, including one on the "Scottsboro Boys," which was nominated for an Academy Award as the best documentary of 2000.

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