Staking Claims to a Continent : John A. Macdonald, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the making of North America / James Laxer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laxer, James, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.

Davis, Jefferson.

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.

Lincoln, Abraham.

Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander), 1815-1891.

Macdonald, John A.

United States--History--1849-1877.

United States.

Canada--History--1841-1867.

Canada.

Canada--History--1867-1914.

Genre:

Nonfiction.

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 361 pages : maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

[Toronto, Ontario] : Anansi, 2016.

Summary:

"Three political leaders presided over the reshaping of the North American continent during the fiery 1860s. Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln were both born in Kentucky, Davis in June 1808 and Lincoln the following February. John A. Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in January 1815. All were Protestants; none came from a wealthy family. In an earlier era, such men would not have risen to political heights. They personified an age of social and economic transformation, thrust to the top by the very forces that tore the continent apart. Davis tried to create a country by ripping the South out of the United States and establishing the Confederate States of America. Lincoln's crusade to save the Union honed the industrial-military power that would one day dominate the world. Macdonald led the drive to shepherd the diverse British North American provinces into a federal state that would secure the northern half of the continent and keep Canada out of American hands. In a high stakes game, these three national projects competed to create viable nation states. And the success or failure of the projects would have consequences--not only for the long-term future of the continent but for the entire global order."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : three nation state projects and three unlikely leaders

Manifest destiny

Irrepressible conflict

A house divided

Political deadlock in Canada

John A. Macdonald takes the stage

Leaders of Canada's two solitudes : George-Étienne Cartier and George Brown

The election of Abraham Lincoln

The Confederate States of America : Jefferson Davis's project

A very political war

Lincoln's project : total war

The war threatens Canada

George Brown changes course

Confederation : the house Macdonald built

Debating confederation

Surrender and assassination

Keeping the Americans at Bay : the realpolitik of confederation

Red River Rebellion

Epilogue : legacies of three leaders

Appendix : nation state projects in nineteenth-century North America and Europe.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-345) and index.

Other Format:

Laxer, James, 1941- Staking claims to a continent.

ISBN:

9781770894303

1770894306

9781487002312

1487002319

OCLC:

926248583