In 1782, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur wrote, “What then, is the American, this new man? He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced.” In casting aside their European mores, these pioneers, de Crèvecoeur implied, were the very embodiment of a new culture, society, economy, and political system. But to what extent did manliness shape early America’s character and institutions? And what role...

In 1782, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur wrote, “What then, is the American, this new man? He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced.” In casting aside their European mores, these pioneers, de Crèvecoeur implied, were the very embodiment of a new culture, society, economy, and political system. But to what extent did manliness shape early America's character and insti...

"A pioneer work in . . . the sexual structuring of society. This is not just another book about witchcraft."--Edmund S. Morgan, Yale UniversityConfessing to "Familiarity with the Devils," Mary Johnson, a servant, was executed by Connecticut officials in 1648. A wealthy Boston widow, Ann Hibbens, was hanged in 1656 for casting spells on her neighbors. In 1662, Ann Cole was "taken with very strange Fits" and fueled an outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Hartford a generation before...

The American Revolution is well ingrained in the minds of every American, who grows up learning famous phrases like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and We the People. The narrative of the social and political rebellion against the British Empire that ended with 13 colonies forming the United States of America is a well known story. The colonies officially severed ties with the British Empire in July 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, but many documents that steered the col...

John Fiske was an American philosopher and historian who wrote letters to Charles Darwin and became a voluminous writer of histories near the end of his life. The largest part of his life was devoted to the study of history, but at an early age inquiries into the nature of human progress led him to a careful study of the doctrine of evolution, and it was through the popularization of Charles Darwin's work that he first became known to the public. He applied himself to the philosophical int...

In his riveting autobiography, Jefferson details many of the events that shaped his personal philosophy and would ultimately define his political career. Allowing the reader to step into the shoes of the author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States, this book is a must for anyone interested in the life and ideals of one of America's most influential Founding Fathers.

The result of a perfect storm of factors that culminated in a great moral catastrophe, the Salem witch trials of 1692 took a breathtaking toll on the young English colony of Massachusetts. Over 150 people were imprisoned, and nineteen men and women, including a minister, were executed by hanging. The colonial government, which was responsible for initiating the trials, eventually repudiated the entire affair as a great "delusion of the Devil."In Satan and Salem, Benjamin R...

A collection of writings from and about New England’s Great Awakening—a spiritual movement that gave rise to American evangelicalism—from the theologian and philosopher who first reported it to the massesJonathan Edwards (1703–1758) is recognized today as a great theologian and philosopher. In his own day Edwards was best known as a leader of what is now known as the Great Awakening: a series of small-town revivals that mushroomed into a movement credited with givi...

According to the traditional understanding of American constitutional law, the Revolution produced a new conception of the constitution as a set of restrictions on the power of the state rather than a mere description of governmental roles. Daniel J. Hulsebosch complicates this viewpoint by arguing that American ideas of constitutions were based on British ones and that, in New York, those ideas evolved over the long eighteenth century as New York moved from the periphery of the British At...

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to the Native Americans. This book deals with Jonathan Edwards’ doctrine of justification and its continuity with Reformed tradition. In his Reformed Theology, Edwards interprets the doctrine with scholastic as well as forensic terms such as “disposition,” “habit,” and “fitness.” Due to his use of these concepts, some scholars suspect that he had a quasi-Roman Catholic view of salvation. According to them, Edwards’ use...

In cities from Boston to Charleston, elite men and women of eighteenth-century British America came together in private venues to script a polite culture. By examining their various 'texts'--conversations, letters, newspapers, and privately circulated manuscripts--David Shields reconstructs the discourse of civility that flourished in and further shaped elite society in British America.

Ekrich examines the reasons for eighteenth-century North Carolina’s political factionalism, social violence, and governmental paralysis. Especially disruptive were the opening of new areas of settlement and the influx of migrant groups with high material hopes, particularly since the colony’s economy remained underdeveloped during much of the century. Fresh analyses are drawn of Governor Burrington’s fiery administration, the Granville district turmoil of the 1760s, and Regular Riots....