Forge: The Seeds of America Trilogy, Book 2

Forge: The Seeds of America Trilogy, Book 2 by Laurie Halse Anderson

A slave save a soldier and tries to enlist in the revolutionary army. His master had promised him freedom for enlisting, so he proclaims himself a free enlistee, though he does not have papers. While some soldiers respect him, he experiences racism as well as other cruelty at the hands of others. His former master later appears and takes him back. There is mixed reaction to the board looking at his case. He meets an old friend and they hatch a plan to try to escape. The book brings up the conflict of a war that aims for equality for all in a society that still condones slavery.

1776

As 1776 began, most Americans considered themselves loyal British subjects. They had some grievances that they wanted addressed, but few saw independence as an outcome. By the end of the year, they had declared their independence and were engaged in a war with the mother country. George Washington was a rich southern landowner that others rallied behind. Initially, he had little respect for New Englanders. However, after fighting alongside them, they both gained mutual respect. Not everybody was on board with the revolution. Their were spies among the colonists. There were also people that were on the fences, eager to shift their loyalty to the winning side. Few at the time could have predicted what the future would hold.

The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931

Deluge describes how the events of World War I ushered in a massive change in the world order and a dominance of the United States. Some of the early sections offer a strong condemnation of US policy towards "minor" players in the war effort. Some small policy shifts in American policy may have led to massively different outcomes in Russia and China which would have impacted events in World War 2 and the cold war.
The book is fairly harsh on president Wilson. He seemed to be too idealistic, yet patronizing. It seems a lot of the issues of the time rose from people thinking they new what was best for other people. Many of the various revolutions revolved around charismatic elite claiming they spoke for the peasants. It seems to be a similar problem we have today. Leaders get the "masses" to side with them, but their solutions are just crafted to "look good" to the masses. Often they benefit the "elite" who know their way around the restrictions.
The interwar period was also significantly impacted by debt payment. It seemed that even back then, the bankers were able to extract the needed concessions from the countries involved. Reparations were only a small part of the system of transfer of payments, with payments to allies often being more significant. There was also little attention given to those outside of western Europe. How would things be different today if a few small changes were made in the late 1910s?

The Federalist Papers

The federalist papers are a series of articles defending the US consitution. It is not a "story" and is a struggle to get through. (It seems to be the type of source that you would use to extract "quotes" to support some viewpoint.) Many of the points are still applicable today. Some of the points are verified in the negative. In defending the president, one key point is that access to repeat elections is unfettered. Oops. Maybe the "lame duck" second term presidents we have is part of our problems today. Also, today's representative constituency has far exceeded the "optimal size".

The dates at the start of each "paper" help drill in the fact that the creation of the USA was a long process. A dozen years after 1776, the American continent is still far from having a unified country. At the time it was still much like an infant European Union. (Perhaps we should send this to the EU as they struggle to create a unified system while still maintaining autonomy.)

In the discussion of judges, the authors attempt to counteract the perceived weakness of the judiciary. Well, the judges have managed to take much of that into there own hands today. (And we are now having the opposite issue.) There are also many other tidbits of the debate. Some are still right-on today, while others are long since dated. These guys obviously spent a lot of time thinking about and supporting their pet cause, the US constitution.

The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War

[October 2009] The book starts and ends with the duel between Senator Broderick and California Supreme Court Justice Terry. In between it tells stories from California history from before the gold rush to the civil war. The initial portion of the book focuses on the fairly well known history of early settler's, Sutter, and the stampede for gold. The most intriguing part here was the story of transportation to California and Vanderbilt's vindictiveness against those that wronged him.

The bulk of the book covers the movers and shakers in California at the time. These are the stories of men that left there home states in pursuit of greater political power in California. These stories are tied to the quest of politicians in Washington to balance the free and slave state needs. The story of the southern "Chivs" in California is especially interesting.

The many different threads all seem to tie in to the story of California. However, the story ends before the civil war, with the war only mentioned briefly in the epilogue. With the emphasis of the title I would expect a little more coverage at least up to the start of the war.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America

[October 2009] Instead of detailing the dates that we all learn in history class, this book describes some less well known days that were important turning points in the history of America. It is a companion to a History Channel documentary (that was produced by different historians.) The author was fairly balanced in his views, coloring the events as we see them today, but still keeping them in the context of the time they took place. Each event is well written and self-contained.

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights

[July 2009] This book starts out slowly, then starts to get better as it goes on, all in a rather dry (but no too dry) scholarly, yet popular tone. It provides a fairly detailed biography of James Madison from the end of the constitutional convention until the ratification of the Bill of Rights. An alternate subtitle could have just as well been "Madison vs. Henry", for Patrick Henry is set up as James Madison's persistent foil. The actual title is somewhat of a misnomer, for the battle over the Bill of Rights is given coverage as a second (and smaller) act, after the initial act of ratification of the constitution. As with many historical accounts, this book suffers from the availability of sources. Some well documented debates are given detailed coverage, while others without much historical record are barely passed over. This creates an illusion (however unfair) of mistaken significance of one event over the other. Though the focus is on Madison, there is very little attention given to events outside the "constitutional period." By a corollary, the book gives the impression that Madison was almost single-handedly responsible for dreaming up the constitution and driving its ratification. Aside from these shortcomings, it remains an interest take on the trials that had to be surmounted to give rise to the birth of the United States.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

The title is somewhat of a misnomer as the "Mayflower" exits early in the book. Instead, it is a history of the Pilgrims, from England to Holland to New England, up until King Phillip's war. The narrative of the initial events leading to the voyage of the boat and the start of Plymouth colony are fairly well detailed in the book. Then the next 50 years are quickly passed, and the narrative switches to that of the war against the Indians (King Phillip's war). The war narrative is more difficult to follow, jumping from a number of different events, happening at different times in different places. Attention seems to be paid to players where more information is known (with Benjamin Church getting a lot of positive coverage).

This book would have perhaps been best split into two separate tomes. The initial book could cover the Pilgrims and their voyage to the new world, with a the second one focusing on the early "war on terror" against the native Americans. While together they do serve to dispel the "pilgrim myth", they each make more convincing narratives on their own.

Adams vs. Jefferson

Adams and Jefferson were friends who found themselves separated by the birth of political parties. Adams is portrayed as the erudite conservative who lives within his means and desires to cling to old traditions. Jefferson comes across as the brash Hollywood type who appeals to the masses, while at the same time holding slaves, philandering and consuming significantly beyond his means. Though the book is about the election of 1800, the majority of the time is spent covering the earlier history of these political figures, with the actually election only appearing at the end of the book. This gives time ample time to cover Adam's presidency, with Jefferson serving as the vice-president. The 1800 election is informative in that allowed for a peaceful transition of power from one faction to another. With the tied Republican election decided in the Federalist house, there were plenty of chances for anarchy and political shenanigans to take over. But somehow, it all worked out. (And the constitution was soon reworked to allow for the inevitable political parties. The book provides a nice account of these men as people of their time. Alexander Hamilton also comes across as a man "behind" much of the extreme Federalist ideals - and somebody that is feared by Adams and Jefferson alike. In the end, after their presidencies, Adams and Jefferson rekindled their friendship via mail, and both died on the 4th of July.