This volume explores how Americans understand the central issues, problems, and decisions that shaped American history during the nation's formative period. It includes many personal letters and other texts that offer first-hand accounts of the major issues of early American history.

Acknowledgments Introduction PART 1. FIRST ENCOUNTERS The Meaning of America Utilizing the Native Labor Force New World Fantasies Labor Needs The Black Legend A Critique of the Slave Trade PART 2. EUROPEAN COLONIZATION NORTH OF MEXICO Justifications for English Involvement in the New World A Rationale for New World Colonization England's First Enduring North American Settlement Life in Early Virginia Race War in Virginia Indentured Servitude The Shift to Slavery Regional Contrasts The Pilgrims Arrive in Plymouth Reasons for Puritan Immigration The Idea of the Covenant Servitude in New England Mounting Conflict with Native Americans Native Americans as Active Agents Puritan Economics King Philip's War Struggles for Power An Indian Slave Woman Confesses to Witchcraft The Sin of Slaveholding English Liberties PART 3. A LAND OF CONTRASTS Mercantilist Ideas New Netherlands: America's First Multicultural Society New Netherlands Becomes New York Indian Affairs The Schenectady Massacre Persecution of the Quakers The Quaker Ideal of Religious Tolerance South Carolina Georgia English Liberties and Deference Queen Anne's War Immigration and Ethnic Diversity Indentured Servitude Suspicion of Arbitrary Power The Great Awakening Fear of Slave Revolts America as a Land of Opportunity PART 4. THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR British North America in 1775 A Soldier's Diary Fasting and Repentance The Capture of Québec The Seven Years' War and the Growth of Antislavery Sentiment The Fate of Native Americans PART 5. THE AGE OF REVOLUTION The Proclamation of 1763 The Stamp Act Crisis The Townshend Acts The Boston Massacre The Regulators Samuel Adams The Boston Tea Party American Resistance to Britain The Battles of Lexington and Concord Declaring Independence Slavery and the American Revolution Benedict Arnold's Treason The War in the South The Articles of Confederation PART 6. CREATING A NEW NATION Native Americans and the American Revolution The Newburgh Conspiracy Slavery in Postrevolutionary America White Slavery Relations with Britain The Critical Period and Shays' Rebellion Northwest Ordinance Creating Republican Governments The U.S. Constitution Debates within the Constitutional Convention The Three-fifths Compromise Fugitive Slaves and the Constitution A Proslavery Document? Ratification Debates The New Republic The Birth of Political Parties The Haitian Revolution The Citizen Genet Affair The Whiskey Rebellion Washington's Farewell Address The Quasi-War with France and the XYZ Affair Jeffersonian Republicanism The Jeffersonians in Power REPEAL OF THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1801 Judicial Review: Louisiana, Expansion, and Disunionist Conspiracies: Slavery and Race in Jeffersonian America: The American Eagle, the French Tiger, and the British Shark: The Dambargo of 1807: The Road to War: The "War Hawks": Clearing the Land of Indians: Missionary Work and Indian Policy: PART 7. ANTEBELLUM AMERICA SHIFTS IN SENSIBILITY: FAMILY, GENDER ROLES, RELIGION, AND THE RISE OF HUMANITARIANISM The Emergence of the Republican Family: Republican Motherhood: Religious Liberalism and Evangelical Revivalism: Disestablishment: ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REFORM TRADITION Dueling: Education: Colonization: Postward Nationalism and Division: 1818 AND 1819: WATERSHED YEARS IN AMERICAN HISTORY The Second Bank of the United States: McCullough v. Maryland: Acquiring Florida: The Monroe Doctrine: The Missouri Crisis: Slavery and Sectionalism: The Underground Railroad: The Rise of the Second Party System: The Election of 1824: POWER AND IDEOLOGY IN JACKSON'S AMERICA Nullification and the Bank War: Political Democratization and the Dorr War: Party Competition and the Rise of the Whigs: Antebellum Reform: The Shift to Immediatism: Abolition and Slavery: Nat Turner's Insurrection: Narrative and Testimony of Sarah M. Grimké: Testimony of Angelina Grimké: A Proslavery New Yorker: From Antislavery to Women's Rights: MANIFEST DESTINY Gone to Texas: Texas Annexation: Mounting Sectional Antagonisms: The Amistad Affair: Political Antislavery: The Free Soil Party: The Mexican War: THE ESCALATING CONFLICT OVER SLAVERY The Compromise of 1850: Mass Immigration: The Know-Nothings and the Disintegration of the Second-Party System: AMERICA AT MIDCENTURY Revival of the Slavery Issue: Bleeding Kansas: Bleeding Sumner: The Dred Scott Decision: The Gathering Storm: Harpers Ferry: The Secession Crisis: PART 8. CIVIL WAR THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NAMES The Emancipation Proclamation: Gettysburg: TOWARD RECONSTRUCTION The Nature and History of the Gilder Lehrman Collection:

"A revealing, fascinating view of early America told through the words of the historical figures."--Albuquerque Tribune "Intriguing."--Richmond Times-Dispatch "The Boisterous Sea of Liberty is an invaluable resource, not o mention an eye-opener to those who believe all history is written in stone."--Denver Post "With their new book, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty, David Brion Davis and Steven Mintz remove history from its Ivory Tower and return it to the general public....The book seems alive, full of the voices and sounds of proclamations long defunct."--New Haven Advocate "I have used this book now for three semesters and I love it. This is the only book I use in my American History I survey class."--Dr. Bruce Walker, Ottawa University "The closest thing we have to an American primer covering the centuries from the age of exploration through the Civil War. It belongs in the library of anyone who is interested in our past."--Sean Wilentz, Princeton University "There is simply no better way to understand the first three-and-a-half centuries of what became the United States than to read this book. Nowhere will readers find more awe-inspiring erudition, a richer diversity of perspectives, or a more powerful portrayal of the people who created this country..."--Edward Ayers, University of Virginia "[The editors] have created an overwhelmingly informative volume: their own interpretive commentary holds together the quotes they select, some world-famous [and] some revealingly obscure."--Publishers Weekly "This compilation of primary source material strives mightily to provide a balanced view of great events from different perspectives....The commentary by Davis and Mintz...provides the necessary context for each category of documents. Although this collection can stand alone as engrossing reading material, it can also prove invaluable as a research tool...."--Booklist

"A revealing, fascinating view of early America told through the words of the historical figures."--Albuquerque Tribune "Intriguing."--Richmond Times-Dispatch "The Boisterous Sea of Liberty is an invaluable resource, not o mention an eye-opener to those who believe all history is written in stone."--Denver Post "With their new book, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty, David Brion Davis and Steven Mintz remove history from its Ivory Tower and return it to the general public....The book seems alive, full of the voices and sounds of proclamations long defunct."--New Haven Advocate "I have used this book now for three semesters and I love it. This is the only book I use in my American History I survey class."--Dr. Bruce Walker, Ottawa University "The closest thing we have to an American primer covering the centuries from the age of exploration through the Civil War. It belongs in the library of anyone who is interested in our past."--Sean Wilentz, Princeton University "There is simply no better way to understand the first three-and-a-half centuries of what became the United States than to read this book. Nowhere will readers find more awe-inspiring erudition, a richer diversity of perspectives, or a more powerful portrayal of the people who created this country..."--Edward Ayers, University of Virginia "[The editors] have created an overwhelmingly informative volume: their own interpretive commentary holds together the quotes they select, some world-famous [and] some revealingly obscure."--Publishers Weekly "This compilation of primary source material strives mightily to provide a balanced view of great events from different perspectives....The commentary by Davis and Mintz...provides the necessary context for each category of documents. Although this collection can stand alone as engrossing reading material, it can also prove invaluable as a research tool...."--Booklist

David Brion Davis is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. His work has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Albert J. Beveridge Award, and the Bancroft Prize, among many other honors. He lives in Orange, Connecticut. Steven Mintz is Professor of History at the University of Houston. He has published works on slavery, American reform movements, and the history of the American family. He lives in Houston.