The American Nation

by Bruce Frohnen

Overview

The American Nation: Primary Sources resumes the narrative begun in its companion volume, The American Republic, which covered the first eight decades of U.S. history, ending at the onset of the Civil War. The American Nation continues the story through America’s entrance into World War II.

The American Nation makes available, in one volume, many of the most crucial documents necessary for understanding the variety of policies and viewpoints driving American public life during an important, substantive part of American history. The primary sources in The American Nation are relevant to the Civil War, Reconstruction, the rise of a national capitalist system and culture, the waves of reform-minded thought and policy that moved the nation toward formation of the national administrative and welfare states, and America’s emergence as a major power on the world stage. This period was a watershed in the history of the nation—the time of establishing and consolidating national power and laying the foundations of a national government committed to promoting the material well-being of Americans. It was an era that witnessed the development of the nation-state and the establishment of the New Deal regime, which set the stage for the radical social movements of the 1960s and beyond.

Some of the primary documents include the Emancipation Proclamation, the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Monroe Doctrine. The authors featured include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jefferson Davis, Robert LaFollette, Eugene Debs, Jane Addams, William Graham Sumner, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Booker T. Washington, among many others.

Bruce Frohnen is Associate Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University College of Law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865977303
Publisher:	Liberty Fund Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	616
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 - 17 Years

Table of Contents

xi Alphabetical Table of Contents
xiii Alphabetical List of Authors
xv List of Illustrations
xvii Introduction
xxi Note on the Texts

PART I: The Civil War

4 The Crittenden Compromise, 1860
7 South Carolina Ordinance of Secession, 1860
9 South Carolina Declaration of Causes of
Secession, 1860
12 Mississippi Ordinance of Secession, 1861
14 Mississippi Declaration of Causes of Secession, 1861
15 Virginia Ordinance to Repeal the Ratification of the
Constitution of the United States of America, 1861
15 Missouri Act Declaring the Political Ties Heretofore
Existing between the State of Missouri and the
United States of America Dissolved, 1861
16 Ordinance of the Kentucky Convention, 1861
20 Constitution of the Confederate States of
America, 1861
29 Farewell Speech to Congress, Jefferson Davis, 1861
31 Inaugural Address, Jefferson Davis, 1861
34 First Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1861
39 Proclamation Calling the Militia and Convening
Congress, Abraham Lincoln, 1861
40 Proclamation of Blockade against Southern Ports,
Abraham Lincoln, 1861
41 Message to Congress in Special Session, Abraham
Lincoln, 1861
48 Proclamation Suspending Writ of Habeas Corpus,
Abraham Lincoln, 1863
51 Message to Congress on Gradual Abolishment of
Slavery, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
52 Proclamation Revoking General Hunter’s Emancipation
Order, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
53 Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
54 Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
56 Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
57 Message to the Congress of Confederate States,
Jefferson Davis, 1864
60 Act to Increase the Military Force of the
Confederate States, 1865
61 Last Order, Robert E. Lee, 1865

PART II: Reconstruction

68 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction,
Abraham Lincoln, 1863
70 Veto Message with Wade-Davis Proclamation and
Bill, Abraham Lincoln, 1864
73 Wade-Davis Manifesto, 1864
79 Special Field Order no. 15, William Tecumseh
Sherman, 1865
81 Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1865
82 Last Public Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1865
85 Constitution of Indiana, Article XIII, 1851
85 Black Code of Mississippi, 1865
91 U.S. Constitution, Thirteenth Amendment, 1865
91 Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, 1865
92 Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, 1865
94 Veto of the Second Freedmen’s Bureau Bill,
Andrew Johnson, 1866
99 Civil Rights Act of 1866
102 First Reconstruction Act of 1867
103 Veto of the First Reconstruction Act,
Andrew Johnson, 1867
111 First and Second Supplements to the First
Reconstruction Act of 1867
115 Articles of Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, 1868
122 Debate on Proposed Fourteenth
Amendment, 1866
135 U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, 1868
136 U.S. Constitution, Fifteenth Amendment, 1870
137 Enforcement Act of 1870
142 Enforcement Act of 1871
144 Enforcement Act of 1875
146 Constitution of the State of Mississippi, 1868
150 Slaughter-House Cases, 1873
171 Inaugural Address, Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877
175 Civil Rights Cases, 1883
189 Constitution of the State of Mississippi, 1890

PART III: Consolidating Markets

198 The Homestead Act, 1862
200 The Pacific Railway Act, 1862
207 The Morrill Act, 1862
209 The Gospel of Wealth, Andrew Carnegie, 1889
215 Cross of Gold Speech, William Jennings Bryan, 1896
219 First Inaugural Address, William McKinley, 1897
223 First Annual Message, William McKinley, 1897
226 Lochner v. New York, 1905

PART IV: Consolidating Culture?

238 Twelfth Annual Report of the Massachusetts State
School Board, Horace Mann, 1848
253 Address on Colonization, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
256 Atlanta Exposition Speech, Booker T.
Washington, 1895
259 Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
270 The Talented Tenth, W. E. B. DuBois, 1903
279 Navajo Treaty, 1868
284 Dawes (Indian Lands) Act, 1887
Blaine Amendments
287 Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Regarding Religious Establishment, 1876
287 Massachusetts Constitutional
Provision, 1855
The Mormon Polygamy Cases
288 Reynolds v. United States, 1879
292 The Late Corporation of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v.
United States, 1890
Immigration Policy
298 Immigration Act of 1882
301 Immigration Act of 1921
302 Immigration Act of 1924
306 The Principles of Scientific Management, Frederick
Winslow Taylor, 1911
314 Buck v. Bell, 1927
316 Introduction to I’ll Take My Stand, Twelve
Southerners, 1930

PART V: Reform Movements

324 Populist Party Platform, 1892
327 Coin’s Financial School, William H. Harvey, 1894
331 What Pragmatism Means, William James, 1907
339 The Socialist Party and the Working Class,
Eugene V. Debs, 1904
347 Preamble to the Constitution and By-Laws of the
Industrial Workers of the World, 1908
348 The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements,
Jane Addams, 1892
356 Why the Ward Boss Rules, Jane Addams, 1898
360 Declaration of Principles of the Progressive Party,
Theodore Roosevelt, 1912
The Income Tax
368 Speech on Constitutionality of an Income Tax,
William Howard Taft , 1909
369 U.S. Constitution, Sixteenth Amendment, 1913
Direct Election of U.S. Senators
370 Resolution Opposing Direct Election
of Senators, 1893
371 U.S. Constitution, Seventeenth
Amendment, 1913
372 Address to Woman’s State Temperance Society,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1853
375 Prohibition Debate, 1917
382 U.S. Constitution, Eighteenth Amendment, 1919
382 U.S. Constitution, Twenty-first Amendment, 1933
Women’s Suffrage
383 The Fundamental Principle of a Republic,
Anna Howard Shaw, 1915
391 Debate on Women’s Suffrage, 1919
396 U.S. Constitution, Nineteenth
Amendment, 1920

PART VI: Consolidating Government

400 The Pendleton Act, 1883
404 The Interstate Commerce Act, 1887
410 Veto of Texas Seed Bill, Grover Cleveland, 1887
412 Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890
414 First Message to Congress, Theodore Roosevelt, 1901
418 Federal Trade Commission Act, 1914
423 The Place of the Independent Commission,
Joseph B. Eastman, 1928
428 Radio Address on Unemployment Relief, Herbert
Hoover, 1931
431 Commonwealth Club Address, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, 1932
438 First Inaugural Address, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, 1933
441 Federal Emergency Relief Act, 1933
444 National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933
452 Redistribution of Wealth, Huey Long, 1935
457 A. L. A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 1935
466 Fireside Chat on the Reorganization of the Judiciary,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1937
472 National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin
Steel, 1937

PART VII: America in the World

482 Monroe Doctrine, James Monroe, 1823
486 Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine,
Theodore Roosevelt, 1904
492 The Fallacy of Territorial Extension, William
Graham Sumner, 1896
496 The Star of Empire, Alfred J. Beveridge, 1900
505 Open Door Note, John Hay, 1899
Woodrow Wilson on Neutrality and War
507 Statement on American Neutrality, 1914
508 Address to the Senate Calling for Declaration of
War, 1917
Dissent in Wartime
513 Espionage Act, 1917
515 Free Speech in Wartime, Robert La Follette, 1917
527 Sedition Act, 1918
528 Schenck v. United States, 1919
531 Fourteen Points Speech, Woodrow Wilson, 1918
535 Covenant of the League of Nations, 1919
541 Speech against the League of Nations, Henry Cabot
Lodge, 1919
555 Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1929
558 Note on Chinchow, Henry L. Stimson, 1932
559 Neutrality and War, Charles A. Lindbergh, 1939
562 The Atlantic Charter, 1941
564 The Four Freedoms, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, 1941
568 Pearl Harbor Speech, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, 1941

571 Sources

573 Index

Editorial Reviews

This is the second volume of transcribed US documents compiled by Frohnen. This collection begins where The American Republic: Primary Sources (2002) concluded, starting with the Crittenden Compromise of 1860 and the succession declarations from various southern states prior to the Civil War and continuing through Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Although this organization is a departure from the traditional method of teaching American history in two distinct time frames, i.e., Colonial times through reconstruction and reconstruction to the present, the organization of this collection results in an excellent grouping of documents within seven logical categories. Each section, and some of the less obvious documents as well, is preceded by a brief synopsis of the time period or document's creator that gives readers historical background on the documents and the major questions that defined the specific time period.

In the introduction Frohnen explains that in order for students to gain the proper historical perspective for a given time period, they need to consult the primary documents of the time. Since digitization efforts have not yet yielded digital copies of the original versions of all of these documents, this collection offers students the opportunity to review the text of these important documents in a well-constructed volume. Some overlap exists with the recently released Milestone Documents of American Leaders (CH, Nov'09, 47-1213). Some historians might argue that more documents should be included, such as more debates on the 21st Amendment or Congressional debate on the League of Nations. Nevertheless this collection does an excellent job of collecting documents that should be required reading for students of the important time periods covered in this volume. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and general readers.

G. Johnson, Governors State University
Choice
December 2009


This collection of public documents that have influenced American history from the Civil War to early days of World War II is presented to students and scholars who want to discuss and research popular, legal and ideological movements through this period of history. Editor Frohnen (law, Ohio Northern U. College of Law) has designed this volume as a follow-up to The American Republic: Primary Sources, covering the laws, addresses, legal cases, amendments and other documents from The Civil War, Reconstruction and the Progressive Era. Noteworthy documents in this volume include the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Gettysburg Address, the Pendleton Act and the eight constitutional amendments passed during this era.

Reference & Research Book News
August 2009


When compared with other nation-states, America today may seem at first glance to be an icon of stability. But it is not an accurate reflection of America today – or at any given point in its political history. Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Bruce P. Frohnen (Visiting Associate Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University College of Law), The American Nation: Primary Sources is a compilation of seminal documents providing insight and context for the diversity of policies and perspectives that shaped and engaged American public life and conflicts from the American Civil War to America’s entrance into World War II. This was a period of time that saw the rise of mass-market corporatism, American engagement as a world power, and the establishment of those political and economic conditions that would give rise to the most successful middle-class the world had ever seen. Of special note is Professor Frohnen’s in-depth study of these public documents and their effects on the public acts and governmental pronouncements that influenced the daily lives of the American public and the course of the country itself. The American Nation is a very highly recommended addition to personal, school, and community library American History and Political Science reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

The Midwest Book Review
July 2009


America is always changing, and has been since its inception over two hundred years ago.The American Nation: Primary Sources covers the march of American history through original documents from the post-colonial era, to military documents during the civil war, to World War II documents, and much more. A reference packed cover to cover with letters between politicians, military leaders, and others, The American Nation offers a unique view of American history that is uniquely unbiased as it is the documents and little else. A must for any enthusiast of American history, The American Nation is a top pick.

The Midwest Book Review
June 2009

From the Publisher