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George Washington, the first president of the United States makes his inaugural address. Narrated by Mike Vendetti.

This collection of articles on constitutional government was written by three of the most significant figures in the establishment of the United States as sovereign nation. Alexander Hamilton, one of the most influential of the Founding Fathers, was the author of 51 of the 85 articles. James Madison, who later served as the fourth president, contributed 29 articles. The remaining five articles were written by John Jay, who was active in a number of public positions, including chief justice, various cabinet posts under Washington and governor of New York.

The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 ended with British general John Burgoyne’s troops surrendering to the American rebel army commanded by General Horatio Gates. Historians have long seen Burgoyne’s defeat as a turning point in the American Revolution because it convinced France to join the war on the side of the colonies, thus ensuring American victory. But that traditional view of Saratoga overlooks the complexity of the situation on the ground.

Today, the United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. Comprised of 50 states, this huge nation is filled with diverse topography, as well as a variety of flora and fauna. Not only that, but the USA is also home to a huge population with diverse ethnic backgrounds. A vast number of the white population are the descendants of the European colonists and settlers who ultimately conquered the land, dominating the Native Americans who were the original inhabitants of the land. If you want to learn more about the American Indian Wars, listen to this audiobook!

The Framers’ Intentions connects political parties and the two-party system with the Constitution in a way that no previous account has, thereby providing a foundation for parties and a party system within American constitutionalism. This book will appeal to readers interested in political parties, constitutional theory, and constitutional development.

In the summer of 1775, a Virginia gentleman-planter was given command of a New England army laying siege to British-occupied Boston. With his appointment, the Continental Army was born. Yet the cultural differences between those serving in the army and their new commander-in-chief led to conflicts from the very beginning that threatened to end the Revolution before it could start. The key challenge for General George Washington was establishing the standards by which the soldiers would be led by their officers.

In the spring of 1778, General George Washington wrote to his friend Landon Carter about a rumored “disposition in the Northern officers to see me superseded in my command”. This was as candid a statement as the general ever made about the so-called “Conway Cabal” of patriot officers and politicians critical of his leadership.

A stunning revision of our founding document’s evolving history that forces us to confront anew the question that animated the founders so long ago: What is our Constitution? Americans widely believe that the United States Constitution was created when it was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788. But in a shrewd rereading of the founding era, Jonathan Gienapp upends this long-held assumption, recovering the unknown story of American constitutional creation in the decade after its adoption.

The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier is the recollections of Joseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850), who in June 1776 enlisted in the Continental Army to fight the English during the American War for Independence when he was only 15 years old. He endured the battles of New York, White Plains, Kipp’s Bay, Redbank, Valley Forge, the siege of Yorktown, and the surrender of Cornwallis.

Alexander Hamilton, unlike many of the other founding fathers of the United States, was born outside of wedlock and was an orphan at the age of 13 after his mother died. He was thrown into the world, depending on the charity of friends and neighbors. That perhaps is one of the reasons why Alexander Hamilton was fiscally sensitive and always anxious about funding and finance, not only for himself but for the new nation of the United States, where he emigrated when he was in his late teens.

On January 17, 1781, at Cowpens, South Carolina, the notorious British cavalry officer Banastre Tarleton and his legion had been destroyed along with the cream of Lord Cornwallis’s troops. The man who planned and executed this stunning American victory was Daniel Morgan. Once a barely literate backcountry laborer, Morgan now stood at the pinnacle of American martial success. When George Washington called for troops to join him at the siege of Boston in 1775, Morgan organized a select group of riflemen and headed north.

John Jay was a master statesman and strategic diplomat who associated with all the great men of his day in the mid-18th century. However, his contemporaries said that he was modest and humble. They indicated that they could be at a party or gathering and guests had to coax him into discussing his role during the American Revolution or as the first Supreme Court Justice of the new nation.

Plenty of unusual characters came to the colonies to participate in the war, with many sporting dubious titles such as the Baron de Kalb, but perhaps none arrived in a more unique way than John Paul Jones...and his aggression became the stuff of legend. While the British accused him of being a pirate, he was feted by the Americans and French during the war before joining the Russian navy after the war.

The revolutionary Ohio Valley is often depicted as a chaotic Hobbesian dystopia, in which Indians and colonists slaughtered each other at every turn. In Unsettling the West, Rob Harper overturns this familiar story. Rather than flailing in a morass, the peoples of the revolutionary Ohio Valley actively and persistently sought to establish a new political order that would affirm their land claims, protect them against attack, and promote trade.

Now that the dust of history has finally begun to settle, we can get a much clearer view of who Thomas Paine was. This book seeks to cut through the hype and hyperbole to present to you the life of an unapologetic patriot and inveterate freethinker - Thomas Paine, the father of the American Revolution.

Clark’s narrative, which covers the years 1773-1779, is a first-hand description of Illinois as it existed in the 1770s. It deals with, inter alia, the British occupation and the way it affected Kentucky settlers. Life on the frontier was dangerous and uncertain, and many people died in various battles and skirmishes.

The game of chess has long be used a microcosm for everything from international politics to war. In The Morals of Chess, an essay originally published in The Columbian Magazine in 1786, Benjamin Franklin, American founding father, polymath, and thinker, tackles this intricate game and likens it to life itself. Franklin discusses what he believes to be key virtues one must possess to be happy, successful, and productive in life, and illustrates these virtues, such a patience and circumspection, within the context of the game of chess.

When people hear the word “witchcraft”, certain images come to mind. American history buffs will immediately think of Salem, where hysteria in the 17th century led to notorious trials that continue to be the source of several historical studies, with scholars analyzing things from every direction. Was it a religious fervor? Was it a land grab? Was there fungus in the grain? Over 400 years later, there are still fundamental questions regarding the complete breakdown of moral order that pinned friend against friend and neighbor against neighbor.

Published in 1855, this history book by William Cooper Nell has an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It focuses on African American soldiers during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. It is considered by some to be the first history book by and about African Americans which is based on written documentation.

Published in 1791, Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man defended the French Revolution’s values of freedom, equality, and brotherhood. He argued that a government based on justice ought to support mankind’s civil rights relating to security and protection, as well as the natural rights to life, liberty, and freedom of conscience. He also proposed plans for universal education, pensions, poverty relief, and social welfare in this classic work that was widely read across the West.