When Britain ceded the territory of West Florida— what is now
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida— to Spain in 1783,
America was still too young to confidently fight in one of Europe’s
endless territory contests. So it was left to the settlers,
bristling at Spanish misrule, to establish a foothold in the area.
Enter the Kemper brothers, whose vigilante justice culminated in a
small band of American residents drafting a constitution and
establishing a new government. By the time President Madison sent
troops to occupy the territory, assert U.S. authority under the
Louisiana Purchase, and restore order, West Florida''s settlers had
already announced their independence, becoming our country''s
shortest-lived rogue "republic."
Meticulously researched and populated with the colorful
characters that make American history a joy, this is the story of a
young country testing out its power on the global stage and a lost
chapter in how the frontier spirit came to define American
character. The first treatment of this little-known historical
moment, The Rogue Republic shows how hardscrabble frontiersmen and
gentleman farmers planted the seeds of civil war, marked the dawn
of Manifest Destiny, and laid groundwork for the American
empire.
關於作者:
WILLIAM C. DAVIS is the director of programs at the Virginia
Center for Civil War Studies and chief consultant for the AE
television series Civil War Journal. Davis teaches history at
Virginia Tech and lives in Blacksburg,Virginia.
目錄:
Dramatis Personae
Preface: Revolutions
1 Realm of Happiness
2 Kemper His Madly Deluded Party
3 The Late Insurrection at Baton Rouge
4 Birds of a Feather
5 You Have Ruined Our Country
6 Live Hogs, Bees-Wax, Coffee, Etc.
7 A Second Edition of the Kemper Attempt
8 Our Tribunal Cannot Be Men of Business
9 The Spirit of Independence
10 A New Order of Things
11 Thus Has Terminated the Revolution
12 A Battle for the Freedom of the World
13 The Commonwealth of West Florida
14 Our Infant but Beloved Country
15 The Star Will Rise and Shine
……