ABSTRACT

The Routledge Handbook of American Military and Diplomatic History provides a comprehensive analysis of the major events, conflicts, and personalities that have defined and shaped the military history of the United States. This volume, The Colonial Period to 1877, illuminates the early period of American history, from the colonial warfare of the 17th century through the tribulations of Reconstruction.

The chronologically organized sections each begin with an introductory chapter that provides a concise narrative of the period and highlights the scholarly debates and interpretive schools of thought in the historiography, followed by topical chapters on issues in the period. Topics covered include colonial encounters and warfare, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, diplomacy in the early American republic, the War of 1812, westward expansion and conquest, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

With authoritative and vividly written chapters by both leading scholars and new talent, this state-of-the-field handbook will be a go-to reference for every American history scholar's bookshelf.

part I|44 pages

A Clash of Cultures

chapter 2|9 pages

The Tidewater Wars

1609–1646

chapter 3|7 pages

The Pequot War

1636–1638

chapter 4|9 pages

The Beaver Wars

chapter 5|9 pages

The Spirit of '76

King Philip's War and Bacon's Rebellion, 1675–1676

part II|44 pages

Imperial Warfare in the New World

part III|34 pages

The War for American Independence

chapter 11|8 pages

The Revolutionary War

A Historiographical Summary

chapter 12|8 pages

A Dual Strategy

Conventional and Unconventional Warfare

chapter 14|8 pages

Liberty For Every Slave!

African American Military Service, 1641–1783

part V|40 pages

The War of 1812

chapter 20|7 pages

The War of 1812

1812–1815

chapter 21|8 pages

“We Have Met the Enemy”

Naval Engagements of the War of 1812

chapter 22|8 pages

Atrocity and Reciprocity

The Burnings of Toronto and Washington, D.C. and the Challenges to the Laws of War in the War of 1812

chapter 23|8 pages

The British–Native American Coalition

The Shawnee and Creek Military Operations against the United States

part VI|44 pages

Building an Empire

chapter 25|8 pages

Manifest Destiny

The Monroe Doctrine and Westward Expansion, 1816–1861

chapter 26|10 pages

The Monroe Doctrine

Origins and Consequences

chapter 27|8 pages

Florida Forays, Fiascos, and Conquests

Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the First Seminole War

part VII|36 pages

The Mexican–American War

chapter 30|8 pages

The Mexican–American War

A Historiographical Overview

chapter 31|9 pages

Zachary Taylor and Monterrey

Generals as Diplomats