When President George Washington ordered an army of 13;000 men to march west in 1794 to crush a tax rebellion among frontier farmers; he established a range of precedents that continues to define federal authority over localities today. The "Whiskey Rebellion" marked the first large-scale resistance to a law of the U.S. government under the Constitution. This classic confrontation between champions of liberty and defenders of order was long considered the most significant event in the first quarter-century of the new nation. Thomas P. Slaughter recaptures the historical drama and significance of this violent episode in which frontier West and cosmopolitan East battled over the meaning of the American Revolution.The book not only offers the broadest and most comprehensive account of the Whiskey Rebellion ever written; taking into account the political; social and intellectual contexts of the time; but also challenges conventional understandings of the Revolutionary era.
#1807237 in Books 1980-01-17Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.31 x 2.02 x 9.31l; 3.29 #File Name: 01950259381008 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. it is easy to see whyBy Charles CurtisThese are the history books I studied in my Advanced Placement history course in high school back in 1968. Samuel Eliot Morison and Henry Steele Commager were both highly respected historians; and reviewing these books; it is easy to see why. Thorough; unbiased; and comprehensive; a good read and highly recommended if you want to bone up on the growth of the republic1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Flawed classic by famed historian and cooperators Commager and Leuchtenburg.By Frank T. ManheimAnybody notice the remarkable dual reviews by Edward Albee - one from 2001 that rated the book with five stars; and another in 2008 with 3 stars! The second; with whose points I agree; may reflect increasing disillusionment with the increasing politicization going on in America; because Albee faults the book for political statements.But let's first get back to the senior author of the encyclopedic history of America. Samuel Eliot Morison (1888-1976) is one of the more productive; honored and influential American historians; especially famous for his work on U.S. naval history. Let me digress a little and cite the excellent article on Morison in Wikipedia for detail that reveals important things about Morison.Among other things; it mentions that Morison was said to be the last Harvard student to arrive at campus on horseback. He later served as a professor for 40 years.In 1942 Morison proposed to his friend FDR that he prepare a detailed account of naval warfare in Word War II. This was the year after the Japanese attack. FDR and Navy Secretary Frank Knox agreed. Morison was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve - and soon called into active duty. His personal experience in combat and labors over more than a decade resulted in a famous 15 volume treatise on Naval Warfare in World War II.Most American high school students from the later 1930s to the 1950s studied American history using the famed textbook by Morison and Commager. I ran across a copy recently and marvelled at the quality of most of it - especially the readability for which Morison was well known.The 1969 edition of the encyclopedic text by Morison and coauthors that I own has many of the serious flaws in treatment of slavery and the American Negro in the earlier works removed at the insistence of critics. But even this edition glosses too quickly over the shameful treatment of African Americans by the United States prior to the Civil War and after Reconstruction until the Brown vs. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court.It completely omits mention of President Wilsons retrogressive acts in resegregating federal employees - the last area of the nation that had retained major advances in civil rights achieved during Reconstruction; and episodes of mass violence and lynchings that should make Americans cringe.Having used the MC textbook myself in high school; I can testify that it left me with grossly distorted perceptions about Afrrican American history i.e. although slavery was bad there were caring masters and ....;. (I don't care to revisit this area further).Albee's reference to "Plymouth Rock" school of history suggests further areas of subjective treatment by the authors. Commager was a decided liberal and therefore the treatment of FDR; the depression and the New Deal carry some biases that I have been able discern in the last 10 years; when I began serious study of U.S. history in order to understand the conflicts of today. I don't think any conscientious observer can deny the intensive scholarship and synthesis effort that has gone into the book. It is also important to understand the wide influence it continues to have in American intellectual life. For this reason I rate it with 4 stars.For a more careful hewing to accuracy and objectivity as well as balance and comprehensiveness in choice of detail I suggest the 2-volume set USA: History of A Nation; by Richard B. Morris and William Greenleaf; 1969.GT23 of 24 people found the following review helpful. Classic of the "Plymouth Rock" School.By Jon L AlbeeThis book is a classic deserving of that title. What is it that makes it truly extraordinary?Lucidity; clarity; and topical broadness make this work particularly impressive. Though it looks like a standard college freshman text; it doesn't read that way. You're not likely to read it cover to cover like a novel; but it's perfect for grabbing off the shelf after having watched that jingoistic Hollywood production of American history; or as a primer for indulging in more penetrating American history scholarship.It's not perfect. The regional sympathies of the primary author (Morison) are revealed from time to time. This book belongs to the Plymouth Rock School of history--the branch that teaches that everything lasting and good in American history came to New England around 1620; after St. Augustine; after Roanoke; after Jamestown. The 1840 map of the United States given on pg. 447 makes a gross error in misrepresenting the population of New Orleans; third largest city in the country at the time. Something tells me that Boston or Philadelphia would have never been overlooked in such a case. Serious students would do well to consult Woodward; Ayers; or even Philips with regard to Southern topics.
