A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism

Front Cover
Basic Books, May 2, 2017 - History - 320 pages
The momentous story of how George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams navigated the crises of the 1790s and in the process bound the states into a unified nation

Today the United States is the dominant power in world affairs, and that status seems assured. Yet in the decade following the ratification of the Constitution, the republic's existence was contingent and fragile, challenged by domestic rebellions, foreign interference, and the always-present danger of collapse into mob rule.

Carol Berkin reveals that the nation survived almost entirely due to the actions of the Federalist leadership -- George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams. Reacting to successive crises, they extended the power of the federal government and fended off foreign attempts to subvert American sovereignty. As Berkin argues, the result was a spike in nationalism, as ordinary citizens began to identify with their nation first, their home states second.

While the Revolution freed the states and the Constitution linked them as never before, this landmark work shows that it was the Federalists who transformed the states into an enduring nation.
 

Contents

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication INTRODUCTION CONTENTS
The Whiskey Rebellion
PART The Genet Affair
PART The Alien and Sedition Acts
Chapter 2
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Epilogue
Notes
The XYZ Affair
Chapter 2
Index
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2017)

Carol Berkin is the Baruch Presidential Professor of History at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author of many acclaimed books, including A Brilliant Solution. Berkin lives in New York City and Guilford, Connecticut.

Bibliographic information