American Issues: A Primary Source Reader in United States History, Volume 2, 5th edition

Published by Pearson (August 2, 2010) © 2011

  • Irwin Unger New York University, Emeritus
  • Robert R. Tomes
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In this popular two-volume anthology of primary documents, letters, and articles participants and contemporary observers express their opinions, make observations, and reach conclusions about events and issues that affected the nation and American society as a whole. Updated throughout with new material and fresh perspectives, American Issues stimulates critical thinking and promotes active learning about American history.  Students learn to relate the past to their own experience and reach conclusions on the basis of evidence.
  • Contemporary spin on politics and the economy - Includes new chapters that stress recent and present issues.
    • Enriches students with state-of-the-art scholarship on United States history.

  • Re-emergent issues - Expands coverage of the role of relevant contemporary concerns prevalent in past times, such as environmental protection and conservation, the impact of technology on society, legal and ideological definitions and conceptions of freedom, civil rights and liberties, and the toleration and acceptance of cultural diversity.

  • Demonstrates for students the timeless nature of certain historical issues.

  • Shifting political trends - Offers a more in-depth and broader survey on political trendstriumph of conservatism in the last 35 years, the enduring tensions of church-state and federal-state government relations, and the importance of demographic transition.

  • Gives students a thorough analysis of political changes in America and the effects on the American people.

  • Women's issues - considers the National Organization for Women's Bill of Rights (1967), radical feminism of the late 60's, and its 1977 counterattack.

  • Helps students understand the great strides and setbacks for American women over history.

  • Contemporary spin on politics and the economy - Includes new chapters on the 1990s that stress recent and present issues.
    • Enriches students with state-of-the-art scholarship on United States history

  • Re-emergent issues - Expands coverage of the role of relevant contemporary concerns prevalent in past times, such as environmental protection and conservation, the impact of technology on society, legal and ideological definitions and conceptions of freedom, civil rights and liberties, and the toleration and acceptance of cultural diversity.

  • Demonstrates for students the timeless nature of certain historical issues.

  • Shifting political trends - Offers a more in-depth and broader survey on political trends triumph of conservatism in the last 30 years, the enduring tensions of church-state and federal-state government relations, and the importance of demographic transition.

  • Gives students a thorough analysis of political changes in America and the effects on the American people.

  • Chapter 1    The Settlement Enterprise

    1.1   Richard Hakluyt on the Colonizing of North America

             Richard Hakluyt, Why England Should Settle North America ((1584)

    1.2   John Winthrop Advises Puritans to Emigrate

             John Winthrop, Why We Should Leave England (1629)

    1.3   A Cavalier Goes into Exile

             Colonel Norwood, A Voyage to Virginia (1649)

    1.4   The Common Folk Come to America

             William Penn, Who Should Go to Pennsylvania? (1683)

    1.5   Indentured Servants: Upward Mobility or Deeper Bondage

             Servant’s Indenture for Transportation to Virginia (1622)

    1.6   Coercion: The West African Slave

             Venture Smith, An Eighteenth-Century African Describes His Enslavement  (1729)

    Chapter 2    The British Colonies of North America

    2.1   Paradise or Hell: Economic Survival and Opportunity

             John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia (1609)

             Richard Ffrethorne, A Virginia Settler Regrets Coming

             Gabriel Thomas, An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and

                            Country of Pensilvania etc.

             John Josselyn, An Account of Two Voyages to New England  

             Reverend Andrew Burnaby, New-York City  

    2.2   The Political Economy: Old Regime or Innovation?

             Ordinance for Virginia (1621)

             Massachusetts Bay Company (1629)

             Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions to Patroons (1629)

             The Navigation Act of 1663

    2.3   Religious Toleration

             John Cotton, God Did Not Ordain Democracy Fit for Church or Commonwealth (1636)

             Massachusetts Proscribes Quakers (1677)

             Royal Order to Send Accused Quakers to England (1661)

             Roger Williams Responds to John Cotton (1644)

             Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, American Diversity: American Tolerance (1782)

    2.4   Class Tensions and Slavery in Colonial America

             Jaspar Danckaerts, A Traveler Disapproves of the Chesapeake Planters (1679)

             William Eddis, The Wretchedness of White Servants (1770)

             Reverend R. Walsh, The Inspection of a Slave Ship

             Maryland Statue on Negroes and Other Slaves (1664)

             Runaway Slaves (1745, 1749)

             George Oglethorpe on the Stono Rebellion (1739)

             The Diary of Samuel Sewall

    Chapter 3  Native Americans

    3.1   A British Officer Describes Native Americans

             Captain Jonathan Carver, A Concise Character of the Indians (1767)

    3.2   A Pennsylvanian Calls the Native Americans "Devils"

             Hugh Henry Brackenridge, The Indians Have No Exclusive Claim to America  (1782)

    3.3   William Penn Urges Kindness Toward Native Americans

             William Penn Admires the Indians (1683)

    3.4   A Moravian Missionary Praises Native American Values

             John Heckewelder,  Indians and Nature (1777)

          The Little Mohee (c. 1725)

    3.5   Treaties and Alliances

             Iroquois Chiefs Address the Governors of New York and Virginia (1684)

             An Iroquois Chief Discusses the Treaty of Rights (1742)

    3.6   The Paxton Boys and Native American Extermination

              Benjamin Franklin, A Narrative of the Late Massacres, in Lancaster County, of a

                        Number of Indians, Friends of This Province, by Persons Unknown. With

                        Some Observations on the Same.  (1764)

              Professor Peter Kalm, Small Pox and Brandy Among the Indians (1749)

    Chapter 4   Patriot versus Loyalist

    4.1    The Stamp Act:  Congress Denounces Taxation without Representation

             The Stamp Act (1765)  

              Declarations of the Stamp Act Congress (1765)

              Francis Bennard Describes Stamp Act Riots in Boston (1765)

    4.2    A Constitutional Crisis: Virtual and Actual Representation

              Benjamin Franklin, Invectives Against the Americans (1765)

    4.3    The Boston Town Meeting Presents the Patriot Case

              Joseph Warren, A List of Infringements and Violations of Rights (1772)

    4.4    An American Radical Reevaluates the English Constitution

              Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

    4.5    The Declaration of Independence

              Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (1776)

    4.6    The Radicalism of the American Revolution

              The Virginia Bill of Rights (1776)

    4.7    Parliament's Official View

              The Declaratory Act (1766)

    4.8    A British Official Argues for Taxing Americans

              Samuel Johnson,  A Diatribe on the American Arguments (1766)

    4.9    A British View of "No Taxation without Representation"

              Soame Jenyns, “No Taxation with Representation” Is an Invalid Argument (1765)

    4.9    American Loyalists Defend Britain

              Josiah Quincy, Jr., The Hutchinson Riot (1775)

              Samuel Seabury, Anglican Ministers Defends Britain’s Position (1774)

    4.10  The American Revolution as a Social Movement

              Abigail Adams on Women’s Rights (1776)

              Prince Hall, a Former Slave (1777)

    Chapter 5  The Constitution

    5.1    Drafting the Constitution

              George Washington, Letter from the Constitutional Convention to the President of

                            Congress (1787)

              Resolutions of the Convention Concerning the Ratification and Implementation of

                            the Constitution (1787)

              The Constitution

    5.2    Patrick Henry Denounces the Constitution

              Patrick Henry, Virginia Should Reject the Constitution (1788)

    5.3    The Constitution as a Usurpation

              Richard Henry Lee,  The Constitution Will Encourage Aristocracy (1787)

    5.4    "The Father of the Constitution" Defends His Offspring

              James Madison, The Constitution Should Be Ratified (1787)

              James Madison, Regulating the Violence of Faction Federalist Paper #10 (1788)

    5.5    Alexander Hamilton on Pro- and Anti-Constitution Forces

              Alexander Hamilton, On the Expediency of Adopting the Federal Constitution (1787)

    Chapter 6   Federalist versus Republican

    6.1   Alexander Hamilton's Economic Reports

             Alexander Hamilton, The First Report on Public Credit (1790)

             Alexander Hamilton, The Second Report on Public Credit  (1790)

             Alexander Hamilton, The Report on Manufactures (1791)

    6.2   Thomas Jefferson and the American Arcadia

             Thomas Jefferson, Query XIX: Manufactures (1784)

    6.3   Thomas Jefferson Attacks the Hamiltonian System

             Thomas Jefferson, The Vile Hamiltonian System (1790)

    6.4   The Jeffersonians Embrace the French

             Thomas Jefferson, In Praise of the French Jacobins  (1793)

    6. 5   The Federalists Denounce the French Revolution

              Gouverneur Morris, Deploring the Excesses of the French Revolution  (1793)

    6.6    Freedom of Expression: The Press

              The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

              Edward Livingston Opposes the Alien Act (1798)

    6.7    Washington and the Success of the Great Experiment

              From Washington’s First Inaugural Address  (1789)

              James Madison Embraces Political Parties

              From Washington’s Farewell Address  (1796)

    Chapter 7  Pioneers and Native Americans

    7.1    Opening the Great American Desert: The Lewis and Clark Expedition

              John Filson, The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon (1784))

              Frederick Jackson Turner, Report to the American Historical Association (1893)

    7.2    The Pioneer Experience

              The Diary of Elias Pym Fordham (1818)

              Journal of Zerah Hawley (1821)

    7.3    Indian Removal

              Timothy Flint,  The Indians Are Savages 

              The Indian Removal Act  (1830)

              Memorial to Congress by Inhabitants of the Territory (1832)

              John C. Calhoun, Justification for “Removal”

              The Indians Protest Against Removal

    Chapter 8   Capital versus Labor

    8.1    The Lowell System

              Charles Dickens, A Positive View of the Lowell Girls (1842)

              The “Factory Girls” Tell Their Own Story (1845-1846)

    8.2    An Economist Defends Capitalism

              Henry C. Carey, Worker Benefit from High Profits (1835)

    8.3    The Workingmen's Party Indicts Capitalism

              The Workingmen’s Party, Workers Are Exploited and Oppressed (1840)

    8.4    Popular Songs of American Workers

              Low Bridge, Everybody Down

              E.R.I.E. 

              No Irish Need Apply 

              Pat Works on the Railway  

    Chapter 9  Jacksonian Democracy

    9.1    Andrew Jackson:  Man of the People or Autocrat?

             Mrs. Smith Observes the Inauguration of Andrew Jackson (1829)

             Andrew Jackson Protests to the Senate (1834)

    9.2   Andrew Jackson Vetoes the Bank Bill

             Andrew Jackson, Why I Vetoed the BUS Recharter (1832)

    9.3   Daniel Webster Replies to the Veto

             Daniel Webster Defends the BUS (1832)

    9.4   Democratic Egalitarianism

             Isaac S. Smith, The Positions of the Loco Focos (1836)

    9.5   A "Knickerbocker" Gentleman Flays the "Rabble"

             Philip Hone, A Whig Gentleman’s View of the Working Class

    Chapter 10  The Ferment of Reform

    10.1   Women's Rights

              The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions (1848)

    10.2   Abolitionism and Human Rights

               Angelina Grimké, Human Rights Not Founded On Sex (1837)

               Sojourner Truth, When Woman Gets Her Rights Man Will Be Right (1867)

    10.3   Women and Divorce

               Elizabeth Cady Stanton Questions the Laws of Marriage and Divorce (1861)

    10.4   Sarah Josepha Hale On Women and Peace Societies

               Sarah Josepha Hale, Ought Ladies To Form Peace Societies? (1840)

    10.5   Dorothea L. Dix and the Plight of the Mentally Ill

               Dorothea L. Dix, Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts (1843)

    Chapter 11  The Mexican War

    11.1   Manifest Destiny

               John L. O’Sullivan, Manifest Destiny (1845)

    11.1   James K. Polk Calls For War against Mexico

              Polk’s War Message (1846)

    11.3   The Mexican View

               Ramon Alcaraz, The Mexican View of the War (1850)

    11.4   Dissent At Home

               James Russell Lowell, The Mexican War Is on Behalf of Slavery

              Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts (1847)

              Thomas Corwin, The War With Mexico Is Morally Wrong (1847)

              Frederick Douglass Opposes the War (1848)

    Chapter 12  Slavery and the "Old South"

    12. 1   Slavery from the Victim's Viewpoint

                William Brown, My Life as a Slave

                Harriet Jacobs,The Trials of Girlhood

    12.2   A Southern Apologist Views Slavery

               Edward A. Pollard, Happy “Darkies” (1859)

    12.3   The Southern Plantation Idyll vs. Northern Experiments

                John Pendleton Kennedy, The Southern Plantation Idyll 

                George Fitzhugh, In What Slavery Ends 

    12. 4   A Nonslaveholding Southerner Attacks the "Peculiar Institution"

                Hinton Rowan Helper, Slavery Hurts Non-Slaveholding Whites (1857)

    12.5   Abolitionism

                William Lloyd Garrison, Manifesto of a New Antislavery Movement 

    12.6   A Northerner Describes the Old South

               Frederick Law Olmstead, A Northern Traveler Views Southern Slavery (1854)

    12.7   The World the Slaves Made

               Go Down, Moses (c. 1850)

    12.8   Resistance and Rebellion

               James W. C. Pennington, The Escape of a Fugitive Slave 

               Rebellion: The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831)

    13  The Clash of Sections.

    13.1    A Southern Champion Demands Equal Rights for the South

                John C. Calhoun, The South Defended (1850)

    13.2    A Northern Unionist Supports the Compromise of 1850

                Daniel Webster, Webster’s Seventh of March Speech Favoring the Compromise

                            Measures (1850)

    13.3    Antislavery Leaders Respond to the Kansas-Nebraska Act

                The Kansas–Nebraska Act: A Plot against the North (1854)

    13.4    John Brown and the Remission of Sins by Blood

                John Brown’s Last Speech (1859)

    13.5   The Victory of the Republican Party

               The Republican Party Platform of 1860

    13.6   The South Secedes

               South Carolina Secession Convention (1860)

               Why South Carolina Is Leaving the Union (1860)

    Chapter 14 The Civil War

    14.1    The War Is About Slavery

                Alexander H. Stephens, Slavery Is the Cornerstone of the Confederacy (1861)

               The War Will Destroy Slavery (1861)

    14.2   The War Is Over Constitutional Issues

                Jefferson Davis, Inaugural Address (1861)

                Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address (1861)

    14.3   The War Is a Clash of Economic Interests

                The North Opposed the South Economically (1860)

                Edward Everett, The North’s Economic Grievances Against the South (1861)

    14.4   The Union's Advance Undermines Slavery

                 Abraham Lincoln, The Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

                 Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address (1863)

                 James Henry Gooding, An African American Soldier Appeals for Equality (1863)

                The New York City Draft Riots (1863)

                 Mrs. Burton Harrison, A Lady of the Old South Describes the Fall of Richmond (1865)

    14.5   The Experience of Civil War Soldiers

                Frank Wilkeson, Death in Battle (1864)

                Battle Cry of Freedom  

                The Bonnie Blue Flag  

                John Brown’s Body  

                Dixie  

    Chapter 15   Reconstruction

    15. 1   Harsh Versus Lenient Victors

                  Abraham Lincoln, Reconstruction Must Be Gradual and Careful (1865)

                  Andrew Johnson, Amnesty Proclamation (1865)

                 Thaddeus Stevens, We Must Have a Radical Reconstruction 

    15.2   The White South Responds

                 Mississippi Black Code (1865)

                 James W. Hunnicutt, Johnson’s Policies Criticized (1866)

                 White People Must Regain Control of Their States (1868)

                 Organization and Principles of the Ku Klux Klan (1874)

    15.3   The Black Response

                Frederick Douglass, What the Black Man Wants (1865)

                Ex-Slaves Should Have Land (1868)

                The Ex-Slaves Crave Education (1866)

                An Appeal for Protection from the KKK (1871)

    Pulitzer Prize winning historian Irwin Unger has been teaching American history for over forty years on both coasts. Born and largely educated in New York, he has lived in California, Virginia, and Washington State. He is married to Debi Unger and they have five children, now all safely past their college years. Professor Unger formerly taught at California State University at Long Beach, the University of California at Davis, and New York University. He is now professor emeritus at NYU.  Professor Unger’s professional interests have ranged widely within American history. He has written on Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, and on the 1960s. His first book, The Greenback Era, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1965. Since then he has written The Movement: The New Left and (with Debi Unger) The Vulnerable Years, Turning Point: 1968, The Best of Intentions (about the Great Society), LBJ: A Life, The Guggenheims, A Family History. He has just completed a book on the 1960s and he and Debi Unger are working on a biography of General George C. Marshall.

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