Early Republic

The American Revolution sparked popular uprisings in France, Ireland, Poland, and elsewhere around the world. Yet only the United States was able to follow the successful overthrow of a colonial oppressor with a stable, lasting republic. Credit for that usually falls to the extraordinary leaders of the time, but what about the contributions of ordinary citizens? How did they affect the country in its formative decades?

In a compilation of essays, Early Republic: People and Perspectives explores the varied experiences of many different groups of Americans across racial, gender, religious, and regional lines in the early years of the country.

In a compilation of essays, Early Republic: People and Perspectives explores the varied experiences of many different groups of Americans across racial, gender, religious, and regional lines in the early years of the country.

Written by expert contributors drawing on extensive new research, Early Republic: People and Perspectives ranges across the broad spectrum of society to explore the everyday lives of Americans from the birth of the nation to the beginning of Jacksonian Age (roughly 1830).

In a series of chapters, Early Republic provides vivid portraits of the farmers, entrepreneurs, laborers, women, Native Americans, and slaves who made up the population of the United States in its infancy. Key events, such as the two-party political system, the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, and the expansion into the Ohio Valley, are seen through the eyes of the ordinary citizens who helped make them happen, in turn, making the United States what it is today.

• Primary sources give readers an opportunity to hear the real voices of the people of the United States in its formative decades
• A bibliography provides an exhaustive list of relevant social history works over the past 40 years