Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821 (Library of Alabama Classics) - Softcover

Owsley Jr, Frank L.; Smith, Gene Allen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817351175 ISBN 13: 9780817351175

Publisher: University Alabama Press, 2004

Synopsis

This compelling narrative demonstrates the passionate interest the
Jeffersonian presidents had in wresting land from less powerful foes and
expanding Jefferson's "empire of liberty."

The first two decades of the 19th century found many Americans
eager to move away from the crowded eastern seaboard and into new areas
where their goals of landownership might be realized. Such movement was
encouraged by Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe- collectively known
as the Jeffersonians- who believed that the country's destiny was to have
total control over the entire North American continent. Migration patterns
during this time changed the country considerably and included the roots
of the slavery controversy that ultimately led to the Civil War. By the
end of the period, although expansionists had not succeeded in moving into
British Canada, they had obtained command of large areas from the Spanish
South and Southwest, including acreage previously controlled by Native
Americans.

Utilizing memoirs, diaries, biographies, newspapers, and vast amounts
of both foreign and domestic correspondence, Frank Lawrence Owsley, Jr.,
and Gene A. Smith reveal an insider's view of the filibusters and
expansionists, the colorful- if not sometimes nefarious- characters on
the front line of the United States's land grab. Owsley and Smith describe
in detail the actions and characters involving both the successful and
the unsuccessful efforts to expand the United States during this period-
as well as the outspoken opposition to expansion, found primarily among
the Federalists in the Northeast.

 

About this title

About the Author:

Frank L. Owsley Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History at Auburn University and author of Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New orleans, 1812–1815.

Gene A. Smith is Professor of History at Texas Christian University and author of Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny.

Review:

"[In] a lively and informative work, Owsley and Smith describe the revolutionary activities in the Gulf South and their connection with the expansionist trends of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. This book does a thorough job of describing filibuster activities in both Florida and Texas, American efforts to seize Indian lands, operations against a free black fort in Florida, and Andrew Jackson's adventures in Florida."—Journal of Southern History

"Filibusters and Expansionists adds a breath of fresh air to the history and historiography of antebellum foreign policy."—Journal of American History

About this edition

• Publisher: University Alabama Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0817351175
• ISBN 13: 9780817351175
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256