Böcker av Timothy Messer-Kruse

"Timothy Messer-Kruse's study boldly argues that a critical factor in the convening of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was white American fury at the British evacuation of enslaved Black Americans at the end of the Revolutionary War. Historians have well documented that after Virginia's royal governor-Lord Dunmore-offered freedom to enslaved persons in exchange for their service to the Crown in 1775, the British provided encouragement and sanctuary to them throughout the Revolutionary War. In the conflict's last years, British forces evacuated many such fugitives from Charleston and Savannah. They also gathered thousands of runaways in their last stronghold in New York City. Once the war ended, the American Continental Congress issued orders to its diplomats negotiating peace terms to demand the return of these "fugitives." As a result, in the Treaty of Paris, the British agreed not to remove any enslaved Americans. Nevertheless, as Messer-Kruse shows, when the British finally quit Manhattan, they transported with them thousands of fugitives from American slavery. Several states immediately passed laws to pressure the United Kingdom to return them by seizing Loyalist property and canceling debts to English merchants. Soon, it became apparent to patriot leaders that such state actions imperiled the peace, American trade, and the future of the West. Unlike other crises in this so-called "crucial era," there was no route for Congress to resolve state violations of a duly ratified international treaty under the Articles of Confederation. This impasse pushed key national leaders to embrace the call for a complete restructuring of the fundamental charter of government. However, even after states ratified the Constitution, the issue of the "carried-off" resonated through American society and animated such pivotal events as the Jay Treaty Controversy of 1795-1796 that bred the first formal political parties. Surprisingly, no other books link the issue of British protection of the formerly enslaved and the road to the United States Constitution. Though many historians have documented the salience of slavery in the drafting of the Constitution, none have explicitly linked it to the events leading to the Convention. Instead, the story of the determined efforts of patriot leaders to recapture formerly enslaved persons, even at the risk of renewed war and international isolation, seems to have been systematically silenced. Messer-Kruse's study is thus a novel and paradigm-shifting interpretation of America's origins that should attract much academic and popular attention"--

A provocative interpretation of early US history arguing that abolitionism among the founders was motivated by white racism

Charting the rise and fall of the International Workingman's Association (IWA), this text discusses the Yankee Internationists' effect (with and within the IWA) on the American Left, and the reasons behind their ultimate purging from the IWA by Marxists.

Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws charts how auto racing was shaped by class tensions between the millionaires who invented it, the public who resented their seizure of the public roads, and the working class drivers who viewed the sport as a vocation, not a leisured pursuit.

A bold reconsideration of the roots and realities of American anarchism

The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists is the culmination of seven years of research into the 1886 Haymarket bombing and subsequent trial. It not only overturns the prevailing consensus on this event, it documents in detail how the basic facts, as far as they can be determined, have been distorted, obscured, or suppressed for seventy years.

In the 1980s, many Americans began to believe that racial problems and institutional discrimination were a thing of the past, but the race issue turned out to be as divisive and powerful as it had ever been. Major events related to race included the Reagan/Carter presidential race, Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign, the Tawana Brawley case, and President George H. W. Bush's manipulation in his 1998 presidential campaign of convict Willie Horton. The 1990s saw the Immigration Act of 1990 allowing more Asians into the United States, the Anita Hill testimony against the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, and the Million Man March. This volume is THE content-rich source in a desirable decade-by-decade organization to help students and general readers understand the crucial race relations of the recent past. Race Relations in the United States, 1980-2000 provides comprehensive reference coverage of the key events, influential voices, race relations by group, legislation, media influences, cultural output, and theories of inter-group interactions.The volume covers two decades with a standard format coverage per decade, including Timeline, Overview, Key Events, Voices of the Decade, Race Relations by Group, Law and Government, Media and Mass Communications, Cultural Scene, Influential Theories and Views of Race Relations, Resource Guide. This format allows comparison of topics through the decades. The bulk of the coverage is topical essays, written in a clear, encyclopedic style. Historical photos, a selected bibliography, and index complement the text.