Wood - Empire of liberty: a history of the early Republic, 1789-1815

Adams, ed., Works

Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams, 10 vols. (Boston, 18501856)

JA, Diary and Autobiography

Lyman H. Butterfield et al., eds., Diary and Autobiography of John Adams (Cambridge, MA, 1961)

Papers of Adams

Robert J. Taylor et al., eds., The Papers of John Adams (Cambridge, MA, 1977)

Annals of Congress

Annals of the Congress of the United States, comp. Joseph Gales (Washington, DC, 1834)

Papers of Franklin

Leonard W. Labaree et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin (New Haven, 1959)

Franklin: Writings

J. A. Leo Lemay, ed., Benjamin Franklin: Writings (New York, 1987)

Papers of Hamilton

Harold C. Syrett et al., eds., The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, 27 vols. (New York, 19621987)

Hamilton: Writings

Joanne B. Freeman, ed., Alexander Hamilton: Writings (New York, 2001

Papers of Jefferson

Julian P. Boyd et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson (Princeton, 1950)

Papers of Jefferson: Retirement Ser.

J. Jefferson Looney et al., eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series (Princeton, 2004

Ford, ed., Writings of Jefferson

Paul L. Ford, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 10 vols. (New York, 18921899)

L and B, eds., Writings of Jefferson

A. A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, eds., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 20 vols. (Washington, DC, 1903)

Jefferson: Writings

Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings (New York, 1984)

Papers of Madison

William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison, vols. 110 (Chicago, 19621977); Robert A. Rutland et al., eds., vols. 11(Charlottesville, 1977)

Papers of Madison: Presidential Ser.

Robert J. Brugger et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1984

Papers of Madison: Presidential Ser.

Robert A. Rutland et al., The Papers of James Madison: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1984)

Madison: Writings

Jack N. Rakove, ed., James Madison: Writings (New York, 1999)

Papers of Marshall

Herbert A. Johnson et al., eds., The Papers of John Marshall (Chapel Hill, 1974)

Letters of Rush

Lyman H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush, 2 vols. (Princeton, 1951)

Republic of Letters

James Morton Smith, ed., The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 17761826, 3 vols. (New York, 1995)

Spur of Fame

John A. Schutz and Douglass Adair, eds., The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 18051813 (San Marino, CA, 1966)

Papers of Washington: Presidential Ser.

W. W. Abbot et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series (Charlottesville, 1987)

Papers of Washington: Retirement Ser

W. W. Abbot et al., eds., The Papers of George Washington: Retirement Series (Charlottesville, 19981999)

Fitzpatrick, ed., Writings of Washington

John C. Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington, 39 vols. (Washington, DC, 19311944)

Washington: Writings

John H. Rhodehamel, ed., George Washington: Writings (New York, 1997)

AHR

American Historical Review

JAH

Journal of American History

JER

Journal of the Early Republic

WMQ

William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Ser.

JA

John Adams

BF

Benjamin Franklin

AH

Alexander Hamilton

TJ

Thomas Jefferson

JM

James Madison

BR

Benjamin Rush

GW

George Washington

A project that has gone on as long as this one acquires a large number of debts, so many that it is dangerous to list any for fear of leaving someone out. For institutional support I am indebted to the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Huntington Library, both of which offered time off from teaching to work on the book. In addition, my home institution, Brown University, gave me several leaves that allowed me opportunities to do research and writing.

My students, both graduate and undergraduate, have been a continual source of stimulation, mainly by compelling me to clarify my ideas and arguments.

A number of colleagues have read portions of the manuscriptMichael Les Benedict, Steven Calabresi, Robert Gross, Bruce Mann, R. Kent Newmyer, and Steve Presserand I am deeply indebted for their aid and corrections. Several friends suffered through the entire long manuscriptRichard Buel Jr., Patrick T. Conley, and Joanne Free manand I am eternally grateful for their taking on the task and for their helpful comments. Pat Conley in particular brought to bear on the manuscript not only his rich historical knowledge but as well a keen editorial eye for typos and other such errors. The editor of the Oxford History of the United States series, David Kennedy, offered very sensible advice, and I thank him for overseeing the whole project. The Oxford editor, Susan Ferber, has a good eye and ear for writing and made many valuable suggestions. My thanks also to the incomparable copy editor, India Cooper. Of course, in the end I am responsible for any errors that remain.

Since this book sums up a great deal of what I have learned about the early Republic over my entire career, I am deeply indebted to the many people who have helped me in one way or another over the past half century. But I owe the greatest debt to my wife, Louise, who has been editor and soulmate through the whole period.

Over the past three decades or so, the period of history covered by this book has experienced a renaissance in historical writing, involving the production of many more books than can be cited in this essay. Consequently, this bibliography is very selective.

Much of the proliferation of works on the early Republic came from the formation of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) in 1977 and the launching of the Journal of the Early Republic (JER) in 1981. This organization and its journal have turned the period into one of the most exciting and significant in American history.

Since there were so many great men in the period, biographies, many of them multivolume, have been written and continue to flourish. Douglas Southall Freeman, seven volumes on Washington (19481957); James Thomas Flexner, four volumes on Washington (19651972); Dumas Malone, six volumes on Jefferson (19481981); Irving Brant, six volumes on James Madison (19411961); and Page Smith, two volumes on Adams (1962). Early in the twentieth century Albert Beveridge wrote four laudatory volumes on John Marshall (19161919) that still stand up.

It seems that scarcely a year now passes that one or another of the Founders does not have his life portrayed in print. Probably the best single-volume study of Washington is Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (2004). Good single-volume studies of other Founders are the following: Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography (1970); for a superb brief life, see R. B. Bernstein, Thomas Jefferson (2003); Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (2004), but Gerald Stourzh,