EDITED BY G. W. PROTHERO, LITT.D. = FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. London: C. J. CLAY AND SONS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE. Glasgow: 263, ARGYLE STREET. Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1765-1865. BY EDWARD CHANNING, PH.D., ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1896 [All Rights reserved.] The aim of this series is to sketch the history of Modern Europe, with that of its chief colonies and conquests, from about the end of the fifteenth century down to the present time. In one or two cases the story will commence at an earlier date, but this will only be by way of introduction. In the case of the colonies it will naturally begin later. The histories of the different countries will be described, as a general rule, in separate volumes, for it is believed that, except in epochs like that of the French Revolution and Napoleon, the connection of events will be better understood and the continuity of historical development more clearly displayed by this method, than by any other. The series is intended for the use of all persons anxious to understand the nature of existing political conditions. "The roots of the present lie deep in the past," and the real significance of contemporary events cannot be grasped unless the historical causes which have led to them are known. The plan of the series will make it possible to treat the history of the last four centuries in considerable detail, and to embody the most important results of modern research. It is hoped therefore that the forthcoming volumes will be useful not only to beginners but to students who have already acquired some general knowledge of European History. For those who wish to carry their studies further, the bibliography appended to each volume will act as a guide to original sources of information and works more detailed and authoritative. Considerable attention will be paid to geography, and each volume will be furnished with such maps and plans as may be requisite for the illustration of the text. PREFATORY NOTE. THE aim of this little book is to trace the steps by which the American people and its peculiar type of federal state have developed out of such heterogeneous and unpromising materials for nation-building as were to be found in the English-American Colonies in 1760. Less attention has been given to campaigns and battles than is usual in works of this class, and the space thus gained has been devoted to the elucidation of the deeper causes underlying the American Revolution, and to a detailed account of the period between the close of the Revolutionary War and the inauguration of President Madison. The Bibliographical Note at the end of the volume is intended to be of service to those who desire to make a further study of American History and not necessarily to indicate the sources of information on which the text is founded. The first six chapters are in fact based on the author's own reading of the original sources. For Chapter VI, however, considerable assistance was derived from Henry Adams's History of the United States (1800-1817), and the first part of Chapter VII was drawn mainly from that masterly work. For the remaining portion of Chapter VII, and for Chapter VIII, the biographies and collected writings and speeches of the leading men of that time were perused. Chapter IX is founded mainly on James Ford Rhodes's two volumes on the period from 1850-1860. The author has also read the more important biographies and collections of speeches dealing with that epoch; but his principal reliance was on Mr Rhodes's excellent work. It is to be regretted that the present book |