Independence : the struggle to set America free / John Ferling.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferling, John E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Statesmen.

History.

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Causes.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--To 1775.

Politics and government.

United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.

United States--Politics and government--Philosophy.

Philosophy.

Statesmen--United States--History--18th century.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1760-1789.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xii, 434 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury Press, 2011.

Summary:

Ferling (history, U. of West Georgia), author of many books on Revolutionary War era America, traces the evolution of the idea of independence and the events and decisions that ultimately led Congress, with the support of most Americans, to declare independence. The book evaluates key players in the process, both important members of the Continental Congress, many of whom were deeply divided about which course to pursue up until July 1776, and important British ministers and their principal adversaries in Parliament. American independence was not inevitable, Ferling asserts, but the result of a protracted struggle in America over how best to secure the interests of individual colonies and of the North American empire, and in Great Britain over how best to hold their power in North America. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

"In the very midst of a revolution" : the proposal to declare independence

"A spirit of riot and rebellion" : Lord North, Benjamin Franklin, and the American crisis

"Defenders of American liberty" : Samuel Adams, Joseph Galloway, and the First Continental Congress

"It is a bill of war. It draws the sword" : Lord Dartmouth, George Washington, hostilities

"A rescript written in blood" : John Dickinson and the appeal of reconciliation

"Progress must be slow" : John Adams and the politics of a divided Congress

"The king will produce the grandest revolution" : George III and the American rebellion

"The folly and madness of the ministry" : Charles James Fox, Thomas Paine, and the war

"We might get ourselves upon dangerous ground" : James Wilson, Robert Morris, Lord Howe, and the search for peace

"The fatal stab" : Abigail Adams and the realities of the struggle for independence

"Not choice, but necessity that calls for independence" : the dilemma and strategy of Robert Livingston

"The character of a fine writer" : Thomas Jefferson and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence

"May Heaven prosper the new born republic" : Setting America free

"This will cement the Union" : America is set free.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781608190089

1608190080

OCLC:

676728672