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It was the Era of Good Feelings, but all was not well with the young Republic. From 1825 to 1849, presidents John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and James K. Polk grappled with the legacy of the Monroe Doctrine, Indian removal, territorial expansion, the National Bank, tariffs, economic depressions, War with Mexico, near war with Great Britain, and the place of slavery in the growing nation.

As one would expect from confident citizens of the burgeoning young country, conflicting arguments swirled around the hot-button issues of the day. This rich resource of primary documents enables students to read these arguments first hand, and feel the passions and study the logic driving their often forceful positions.

All of the primary documents are annotated and placed into historical context. A thorough index concludes the work.

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1. George Washington
2. John Adams
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
5. James Monroe
6. John Quincy Adams
7. Andrew Jackson
8. Martin Van Buren
9. William Henry Harrison
10. John Tyler
11. James K. Polk
12. Zachary Taylor
13. Millard Fillmore
14. Franklin Pierce
15. James Buchanan
16. Abraham Lincoln
17. Andrew Johnson
18. Ulysses S. Grant
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
20. James Garfield
21. Chester A. Arthur
22. Grover Cleveland
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A collection of Presidential Speeches from George Washington's first Inaugural Address in 1789 to the second term Inauguration address by George W. Bush.

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John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850) was a leading United States Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. He was the first Vice President to resign his office. He was an advocate of slavery, states' rights, limited government, and nullification. In 1817, President James Monroe appointed Calhoun to be Secretary of War, where he served until 1825. It should be noted that during this time period, he was perhaps the most tireless and selfless proponent of the nationalist agenda in American politics. His works include: Against the Force Bill (1833), A Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States (1851) and Disquisition on Government (1851). ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This historic volume was published in 1855.

Contains:

- The Declaration of Independence
- The lives of the signers
- The Constitution of the United States
- The Inaugural Addresses and First Annual Messages of all the
Presidents, from Washington to Pierce
- The Farewell Addresses of George Washington and Andrew
Jackson
- Sketches of the Lives of the Presidents - Washington to Pierce
...............................................................................

Contents:

J. Q. Adams's Inaugural Address
J. Q. Adams's First Annual Message
Jackson's Inaugural Address
Jackson's First Annual Message
Jackson's Farewell Address
Van Buren's Inaugural Address
Van Buren's First Annual Message
Harrison's Inaugural Address
Tyler's Address to the People of the United States
Tyler's First Annual Message
Polk's Inaugural Address
Polk's Mexican War Message
Taylor's Inaugural Address
Taylor's First Annual Message
President Fillmore's Message
Fillmore's First Annual Message
Pierce's Inaugural Address

Sketches of the Lives of the Presidents from Washington to Pierce:

George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
James Knox Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce








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Product Description
Originally published in 1854.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Richard Brookhiser has won a wide and loyal following for his stylish, pointed, and elegant biographies of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. In America's First Dynasty, Brookhiser tells the story of America's longest and still greatest dynasty -- the Adamses, the only family in our history to play a leading role in American affairs for nearly two centuries. From John, the self-made, tough-minded lawyer who rose to the highest office in the government he helped create; to John Quincy, the child prodigy who grew up amid foreign royalty, followed his father to the White House, and later reinvented himself as a champion of liberty in Congress; to politician and writer Charles Francis, the only well-balanced Adams; to Henry, brilliant scholar and journalist -- the Adamses achieved longer-lasting greatness than any other American family.

Brookhiser's canvass starts in colonial America, when John Adams had to teach himself the law and ride on horseback for miles to find clients. It does not end until after the Titanic sinks -- Henry had booked a room but changed his plans -- and World War I begins, with Henry near the action in France. The story of this single family offers a short course in the nation's history, because for nearly two hundred years Adams history was American history. The Adamses were accompanied by an impressive cast of characters, from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to Andrew Jackson and Ulysses Grant, to Teddy Roosevelt. America's First Dynasty offers telling portraits of the great men of our past, and many of the women around them. John and Abigail's great love affair was destined to be repeated by their offspring and offspring's offspring.

As with any family, there was a darker side to the Adams story: many of its members were abject failures. Alcoholism was a familiar specter, and suicide was not unknown. Only one of the four great Adamses was a kind man and father; the others set standards so impossibly high that few of their children could meet them. Yet despite more than a century of difference from John to Henry, certain Adams traits remained the same. In the story of our first and still-greatest family, we can all see something of our own struggles with family, fate, and history.Amazon.com Review
In the spirit of his earlier books, Alexander Hamilton: American and Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington, Richard Brookhiser produces an elegant, concise volume drawing on previous scholarship but offering a fresh perspective on four prickly generations of Adamses. Until David McCullough's John Adams became a surprise bestseller, the United States' second president and his descendants seldom had good press. Acknowledging John's essential role in the American Revolution and his son John Quincy's principled fight against slavery, contemporaries and historians nonetheless judged both men poor presidents, characterized by haughty pride and stiff-necked dislike of compromise. Charles Francis Adams, John Quincy's son, lost an almost certain chance to run for president as a Republican in 1872 by disdainfully announcing "that he would reject any nomination that had to be negotiated for;" the most famous book by Charles's son, The Education of Henry Adams (1907), implicitly blames Henry's failure to achieve the prominence of his forefathers on the loss of meaning and coherence in the modern, fragmented world. Tracing the lives and careers of these four men, Brookhiser strikes a balance between their struggles with a daunting heritage and battles with the often unappreciative outer world, identifying "the constant companion of the Adamses" as "the idea of greatness. Am I as great as my ancestors? As great as my contemporaries? Why doesn't the world recognize my greatness?" This proves a sensible organizing principle for his graceful reappraisal of a well-known but not often well-understood family. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Brookhiser dislikes the Adamses
This was a very disappointing book. I bought it for $5 and feel I overpaid. It's obvious that Brookhiser dislikes, even hates, the Adamses. He painted cruel pictures of each of the 4 covered, as well as other people who came in contact with them. It was a painful read as a result. It made me wonder what Brookhiser's dislike was based on? Brookhiser certainly never offers any information that would make his subjects worthy of such dislike. While reading the book I was often more interested in Brookhiser and his obvious problems with all things Adams than with the Adamses themselves.

I won't be reading anything else by Brookhiser because I don't want to be subjected to his hatreds and pettiness.

Neat, Not-too-filling, but Ultimately Biased
For a quick and dirty basic description of the famous sons of Adams, feel free to indulge in this quick and easy read. As other have indicated, it generally lacks anything unique from other works on the family, with the exception of Brookheiser's commentary. It is, as with his other works, very well written.

It is plainly evident from this work and his others that Brookheiser isn't a big fan of John Adams and his progeny. For example, he clearly states that of the six presidents, only two were not reelected; John and John Quincy. Of the three presidents who did not attend their replacements' inauguration, two were Adams. These are true facts, but placed in the context of this book and the general tone of its writing, it is evident he is less than enamored with this family. He is entitled to his opinion, which at times is very well presented, but it reads more as a USA Today editorial than a piece of historical non-fiction.

Biased history
I'll give it one star because it does offer a concise (maybe all too brief) summary of these men's times. Other than that, it's weak. You can tell it's written by a journalist: almost like articles, the chapters are hurried, crammed and tilted toward the journalist's politics. As someone else noted, his compliments to John and John Quincy are backhanded. And I was stunned - so stunned in fact I had to read it over and over just to believe it- that Brookhiser describes Buchanan as a "gracious, gutless homosexual". And his (supposed) homosexuality has ...what?... to do with his politics? And he was gutless because he was a supposed homosexual? Don't waste your money. Read McCullough or Henry Adams instead.

It was just too bad that the author didn't like the Adams boys a little better
Having read John McCullough's wonderful biography John Adams, and having read one of the most celebrated of all autobiographies, The Education of Henry Adams (the great-grandson of John Adams), I was hungry to fill in the gaps in the Adams' family history, and thus my motivation for reading this volume.

Brookhiser gives equal time to the star members of four generations of Adamses: John, John Quincy (both United States Presidents), Charles Francis (ambassador to Great Britain and almost President) and Henry who shunned politics and devoted his time to taking potshots at life and writing history and novels.

Compared to the other two books mentioned in the opening paragraph America's First Dynasty is not a particularly great book - of course it is running in elite circles. Brookhiser had far too many opinions, many of them about as cynical as any Henry could come up with, to make this a good book of history. But it is interesting and provided a good overview of the lives of the four best known Adams men (Abigail deserves her own book). It was just too bad that the author didn't like the Adams boys a little better - or at least was not so free to place his negative spin on their lives. Overall the book accomplished what I had hoped, but if you want just one book on the Adams' family, skip this one and go straight to McCullough's.

Half a gill of hard cider
I saw this on sale and thought it would be a nice 'chaser' after David McCullough's long but excellent "John Adams" that I was just finishing up. I was right, but barely.First, on the good side: it's a well written quick review of the four famous and interesting generations of Adamses.It gets high marks for putting a lot into a small package.Also, all four get equal time, which, given the complexities of each, I appreciated.

On the negative side: it did not surprise me that Brookhiser took a less flattering (and more mainstream) view of John Adams than McCullough.But when his disparagment stretched to the following three generations I started to wonder what size burr the author may be sitting on.If you buy Brookhiser's somewhat malignant view of these four, it then begs the question how such an irascible hypocritical set of men could be so successful.Which is neither asked nor answered.

It was worth the $5 I paid, but I wouldn't pay full price. ... Read more

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TO E. Y. R.

To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fashion the story of some Americans who showed that they knew how to live and how to die; who proved their truth by their endeavor; and who joined to the stern and manly qualities which are essential to the well-being of a masterful race the virtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to an ideal.

It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially good thing for young Americans, to remember the men who have given their lives in war and peace to the service of their fellow-countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring and personal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions of the nation in the various crises of her history. Thrift, industry, obedience to law, and intellectual culvation are essential qualities in the makeup of any successful people; but no people can be really great unless they possess also the heroic virtues which are as needful in time of peace as in time of war, and as important in civil as in military life. As a civilized people we desire peace, but the only peace worth having is obtained by instant readiness to fight when wronged--not by unwillingness or inability to fight at all. Intelligent foresight in preparation and known capacity to stand well in battle are the surest safeguards against war. America will cease to be a great nation whenever her young men cease to possess energy, daring, and endurance, as well as the wish and the power to fight the nation's foes. No citizen of a free state should wrong any man; but it is not enough merely to refrain from infringing on the rights of others; he must also be able and willing to stand up for his own rights and those of his country against all comers, and he must be ready at any time to do his full share in resisting either malice domestic or foreign levy.

Henry Cabot Lodge. & Theodore Roosevelt.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Children Need Heroes
Some quotations from Adam Starchild's wonderful afterword to this book are appropriate:

"Children today are starved for the image of real heroes. Celebrities are not the same thing as heroes. Heroes existed way before celebrities ever did, even though celebrities now outshine heroes in children's consciousness."

"Worshiping celebrities leaves children with a distinctly empty feeling -- it doesn't teach that they'll have to make sacrifices if they want to achieve anything worthwhile. No- talents become celebrities all the time. The result is that people don't seem to care about achievement or talent -- fame is the only objective."

"... Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of traits that instruct and inspire people. A hero does something worth talking about, but a hero goes beyond mere fame or celebrity. The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. If they serve only their own fame, they may be celebrities but not heroes. Heroes are catalysts for change. They create new possibilities. They have a vision, and the skill and charm to implement their vision."

"Heroes may also be fictional. Children may identify with a character because of the values projected. People tend to grow to be like the people that they admire, but if a child never has any heroes what images will he copy? Adults need heroes too, but the need is even more urgent for children because they don't know how to think abstractly. But they can imagine what their hero would do in the circumstances, and it gives them a useful reference point to build abstract thinking skills." ... Read more