The nation's crucible : the Louisiana Purchase and the creation of America / Peter J. Kastor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kastor, Peter J.

Series:

Yale Western Americana series (Unnumbered)

Western Americana series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Louisiana Purchase.

Nationalism--United States--History--19th century.

Nationalism.

Race relations.

Frontier and pioneer life.

United States.

History.

Political culture--United States--History--19th century.

Political culture.

National characteristics, American.

Frontier and pioneer life--Louisiana.

United States--Territorial expansion.

Territorial expansion.

United States--Politics and government--1801-1815.

Politics and government.

United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.

Louisiana--History--1803-1865.

Louisiana.

Louisiana--Race relations.

Physical Description:

xiii, 311 pages : map ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2004]

Summary:

In 1803 the United States purchased Louisiana from France. This seemingly simple acquisition brought with it an enormous new territory as well as the country's first large population of nonnaturalized Americans -- Native Americans, African Americans, and Francophone residents. What would become of those people dominated national affairs in the years that followed. This book chronicles the years from 1803 to the ratification of the Transcontinental Treaty in 1821, a contentious period during which people proposed numerous visions of the future for Louisiana and the United States. Peter Kastor argues that the process of resolving what would become of the Louisiana Purchase transformed the way people conceived of what it meant to be American. It established the meaning of nationhood, reconfigured relationships between the federal government and far-flung territories, and changed how people throughout North America would see themselves in relation to larger communities. Kastor also contends that the purchase was not -- as is commonly assumed -- an expression of boisterous American expansionism. Rather, it reflected a profound ambivalence toward the acquisition of new territory and new people. At the same time, the successful incorporation of Louisiana in the years after 1803 helped to create the arguments in favor of expansion as the chaos that had abounded in 1803 gave way by 1821 to regional stability, racial supremacy, and political integration. Louisiana's position was resolved, and ideas about the meaning of American citizenship had taken on a new shape.

Contents:

Part I Empires, Republics, and Nations (1763-1804)

1. America 19

2. Acquisition 35

Part II Louisiana Purchase (1803-1808)

3. "Numerous and Troublesome Neighbors" 55

4. Codes 76

Part III Crisis (1808-1815)

5. Local Diplomacy 111

6. Polities 135

7. "The Din of War" 153

Part IV Attachment (1815-1820)

8. "The State of Louisiana Now Has Her Voice" 183

9. Louisiana 201.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-304) and index.

ISBN:

0300101198

OCLC:

53162669