Chronicles of the story of the first American-English dictionary's creator, revealing his close associations with George Washington and Ben Franklin as well as his authorship of an influential school primer and advocacy of a distinct American culture. 25,000 first printing.

John Winthrop's effort to create a Puritan "City on a Hill" has had a lasting effect on American values, and many remember this phrase famously quoted by the late Ronald Reagan. However, most know very little about the first American to speak these words. In John Winthrop, Francis J. Bremer draws on over a decade of research in England, Ireland, and the United States to offer a superb biography of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, one rooted in a detailed understanding of his first forty years in England. Indeed, Bremer provides an extensive, path-breaking treatment of Winthrop's family background, youthful development, and English career. His dissatisfaction with the decline of the "godly kingdom of the Stour Valley" in which he had been raised led him on his errand to rebuild such a society in a New England. In America, Winthrop would use the skills he had developed in England as he struggled with challenges from Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, among others, and defended the colony from English interference. We also see the personal side of Winthrop--the doubts and concerns of the spiritual pilgrim, his everyday labors and pleasures, his feelings for family and friends. And Bremer also sheds much light on important historical moments in England and America, such as the Reformation and the rise of Puritanism, the rise of the middling class, the colonization movement, and colonial relations with Native Americans. Incorporating previously unexplored archival materials from both sides of the Atlantic, here is the definitive portrait of one of the giants of our history. John Winthrop recevied an honorable Mention, The Colonial Dames of America Book Award.

His loyalty lasted a lifetime... Surgeon, merchant, vintner, and writer Filippo Mazzei influenced American business, politics, and philosophy. Befriending Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Mazzei was a strong liaison for others in Europe. Mazzei was Jefferson's inspiration for the most famous line in the Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal." Clearly, Mazzei had a gift of language and often used his words to share his ideas about religious freedom. Mazzei encouraged other Italians still living overseas to join him in a country rich with opportunity and promise. Often, when returning from Italy, he booked passages on ships for people who desired to travel to America and employed them on his estate--just to ensure a better, more fruitful life for everyone. During those travels, Mazzei found himself at the center of many fights for freedom. He was truly a friend to freedom around the world.

Born in 1753 to a prominent Dutch-American family in Hackensack, New Jersey, Richard Varick became a lawyer, then a Patriot officer in the American Revolutionary War. Colonel Varick served with distinction as aide to generals Philip Schuyler and Benedict Arnold. Later, George Washington entrusted him with the editing of his wartime papers—forty-four volumes now housed in the Library of Congress. In peacetime Varick helped initiate the new Federalist-oriented government of New York City, becoming its mayor from 1789–1801. Next he turned his energies to the accumulation of lucrative real estate, all the while furthering the development of Columbia University and the Society of the Cincinnati, and starting the entity that became Jersey City. His personal passion was to help promulgate the Christian message, especially through the founding of the American Bible Society and the New York Sunday School Union. A highly respected, multitalented businessman and national hero, he was returned to Hackensack for burial in 1831.

How Native Americans contributed to the early American Republic and its Constitution.

George Mason (1725-92) is often omitted from the small circle of founding fathers celebrated today, but in his service to America he was, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "of the first order of greatness." Jeff Broadwater provides a comprehensive account of Mason's life at the center of the momentous events of eighteenth-century America. Mason played a key role in the Stamp Act Crisis, the American Revolution, and the drafting of Virginia's first state constitution. He is perhaps best known as author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a document often hailed as the model for the Bill of Rights. As a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Mason influenced the emerging Constitution on point after point. Yet when he was rebuffed in his efforts to add a bill of rights and concluded the document did too little to protect the interests of the South, he refused to sign the final draft. Broadwater argues that Mason's recalcitrance was not the act of an isolated dissenter; rather, it emerged from the ideology of the American Revolution. Mason's concerns about the abuse of political power, Broadwater shows, went to the essence of the American experience.

Alexander Hamilton: AmericaOCOs Forgotten Founder describes the character and achievements of a man who was instrumental in casting the form of our government and especially its strong financial structure. His financial innovations renewed the public credit when war debts threatened to swamp the fledgling economy, provided a stable currency system and established a federal revenue system. Hamilton s involvement in the foreign affairs of the new republic assured its unity, sovereignty and rapid economic growth. Born in the West Indies, Alexander Hamilton migrated to America when he was fifteen years old, at a time when Colonial America was torn by political unrest with Great Britain. He served in the Revolution as General Washington s chief aide-de-camp and as an officer in combat units. He was a persuasive presence in the Constitutional Convention and helped to lead the subsequent ratification process. Hamilton was a proponent for a strong central government, believing that its direct influence over the people would strengthen the unity of the country. As Secretary of the Treasury, he understood that a strong financial system was essential to provide credibility and economic growth to the new republic. He based his financial plan on the consolidation of the national debt and the adoption of a taxation system to service and retire that debt. He promoted the chartering of the Bank of the United States as the keystone to his financial plan. Arguably the Father of Federalism, Hamilton gave more to the structure and process of the United States government then any other single individual. His opponents, principally the Jeffersonian Republicans, argued for greater sovereignty for state governments and sought to diminish the role of wealth in structuring and operating the financial systems of the country. When it came, the Civil War vindicated Hamilton s politics over Jefferson s view of a more tenuous and tentative union. He authored the lion s share of The Federalist Papers, writings which remain an important guide to the meaning and the intended function of the Constitution today. Regrettably, the hostility of his political opponents has transcended the country s recognition of the debt owed to this man. This work introduces the general reader to some of the challenges and controversies of the early days of the Republic and highlights Hamilton s brilliant contributions to US policy and structure. Hamilton promoted a vigorous national government to create a strong and unified country out of a mixed bag of 13 sovereign states. This book was written for the broad cross-section of American readers, particularly those who, while not having an abiding interest in history, would welcome an interestingly written, brief history of Hamilton s life and the great events surrounding the founding of the nation. The book is also suited for high school and college-level students of US history. Most Americans today have little understanding of the character, the life and accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton, an extraordinary man by any account and an extraordinary American. The current work intends to make his life and accomplishments accessible to a broader public."