Foreign policies and diplomatic missions, combined with military action, were the driving forces behind the growth of the early United States. In an era when the Old and New Worlds were subject to British, French, and Spanish imperial ambitions, the new republic had limited diplomatic presence and minimal public credit. It was vulnerable to hostile forces in every direction. The United States could not have survived, grown, or flourished without the adoption of prescient foreign policies, or without skillful diplomatic operations. An Independent Empire shows how foreign policy and diplomacy constitute a truly national story, necessary for understanding the history of the United States. In this lively and well-written book, episodes in American history—such as the writing and ratification of the Constitution, Henry Clay’s advocacy of an American System, Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain, and the visionary but absurd Congress of Panama—are recast as elemental aspects of United States foreign and security policy. An Independent Empire tells the stories of the people who defined the early history of America’s international relationships. Throughout the book are brief, entertaining vignettes of often-overlooked intellectuals, spies, diplomats, and statesmen whose actions and decisions shaped the first fifty years of the United States. More than a dozen bespoke maps illustrate that the growth of the early United States was as much a geographical as a political or military phenomenon.

The number of independent voters in America increases each year, yet they remain misunderstood by both media and academics. Media describe independents as pivotal for electoral outcomes. Political scientists conclude that independents are merely 'undercover partisans': people who secretly hold partisan beliefs and are thus politically inconsequential. Both the pundits and the political scientists are wrong, argue the authors. They show that many Americans are becoming embarrassed of their political party. They deny to pollsters, party activists, friends, and even themselves, their true partisanship, instead choosing to go 'undercover' as independents. Independent Politics demonstrates that people intentionally mask their partisan preferences in social situations. Most importantly, breaking with decades of previous research, it argues that independents are highly politically consequential. The same motivations that lead people to identify as independent also diminish their willingness to engage in the types of political action that sustain the grassroots movements of American politics.

John Quincy Adams is widely recognized as America’s most distinguished diplomat, taking into account the length and breadth of his public service and his influence on American foreign policy. In the course of this remarkable journey, John Quincy documented his ideas and actions through his writings, speeches, letters, diary entries, and state papers. To aid those interested specifically in learning more about the man and his views on foreign policy, the editors have compiled a collection of the most important and often-cited works, such as his famous July 4, 1821 Oration: “she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” The selections in this volume provide insights into Adams's diplomatic practices and the critical issues that marked the young American nation. To give the readers context, the editors have provided introductions for both particular periods in John Quincy's life as well as individual documents. Wherever possible, the editors have included the full text but, given the immensity of the available material and John Quincy Adams’s style of writing, they have used discretion to abridge certain documents.

The pioneering anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner combines her trademark ethnographic expertise with critical film interpretation to explore the independent film scene in New York and Los Angeles since the late 1980s. Not Hollywood is both a study of the lived experience of that scene and a critical examination of America as seen through the lenses of independent filmmakers. Based on interviews with scores of directors and producers, Ortner reveals the culture and practices of indie filmmaking, including the conviction of those involved that their films, unlike Hollywood movies, are "telling the truth" about American life. These films often illuminate the dark side of American society through narratives about the family, the economy, and politics in today's neoliberal era. Offering insightful interpretations of many of these films, Ortner argues that during the past three decades independent American cinema has functioned as a vital form of cultural critique.

Edited and written by leading authors in the field, this book offers an examination of American independent cinema through four sections that range in focus from broad definitions to close focus on particular manifestations of independence.

The Compensatory Code is a term that means the sum total of everything that is thought, said, or done by one individual Non-White person, who is a Victim of Racism [Victim of White Supremacy] that is effective in helping to eliminate Racism (White Supremacy), and/or in helping to "make up" for the lack of justice and correctness.

"Independent Visions is an indispensable guide to the independent filmmakers who are changing how we look at movies. Donald Lyons writes with wit and passion."--Peter Travers, Rolling Stone Far from the big money movie machine of Hollywood lies the cutting-edge, artistically fresh world of American independent film. These independent filmmakers, working outside the formulas and constraints of the big studios, produce today's most exciting and innovative movies. In Independent Visions, film critic Donald Lyons surveys the surprisingly vast array of these independents from across the country and dissects the fascinating careers of the men and women who made them, Including: Joel Coen (Barton Fink) * Martha Coolidge (Rambling Rose) * David Cronenberg (Naked Lunch) * Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) * Carl Franklin (One False Move) * Leslie Harris (Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.) * Hal Hartley (Simple Men) * Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train) * Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing) * David Lynch (Blue Velvet) * John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) * Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) * Nancy Savoca (True Love) * John Sayles (Passion Fish) * John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) * Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape) * Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs) * Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho) * and many more!