| Contents |
The confederation's final years: a chronology -- Introduction -- The search for national identity -- War's aftermath -- America's postwar debts: public faith or anarchy? -- Republic and empire: the struggle over confederation taxes -- Protecting American commerce in an imperial world -- Western expansion strains -- "Astonishing" emigrations and western settlement conflicts -- The Spanish-treaty impasse and the union's collapse -- Internal divisions : state social conflicts -- Economic relief, social peace, and republican justice -- Shays's rebellion: the final battle of the American revolution? -- Confederation collapse and its consequences -- "The truth is, we have not a government" : confederation stalemate and the road to the Philadelphia convention -- Conclusion: the birth of the American empire. |
