Among the Powers of the Earth: The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire

by Eliga H. Gould

SHEAR Book Prize (2013), Society for Historians of the Early American Republic
George Washington Book Prize Finalist (2013)
A Library Journal Best Book of 2012

What does it mean to be a treaty-worthy nation?  No question mattered more to Americans in 1776.  As Eliga Gould shows in this prize-winning book, the need for international recognition touched every part of the United States' early history -- from the drafting of the Constitution, to relations between settlers and Indians, to the looming debate over slavery. 

Genres: History, American Revolution, American History, American Revolutionary War

344 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2012

About the author

A specialist on the American Revolution, with an emphasis on the revolution’s “outer” history in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and the wider world, Eliga Gould is professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. Gould earned his A.B. from Princeton University, an M.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh, and an M.A. in History Teacher Education and a Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about the development of the American nation, one that other nations allowed them to create for themselves. Americans had to assert themselves to be viewed as a treaty-worthy nation. The book has a relatively narrow focus, looking at America's position as a power force amongst European nations, and focusing on American's relationship with both the African Americans and Native Americans.

The only distraction I came across in the book was the use of exceptionally long sentences at times and a lot of block quotes. These were distracting and would cause me to lose site of the main point. With this exception, the book was an interesting look at the American nation and it's growth and establishment surrounding the American Revolution.

[Aaron Gibbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the Powers of the Earth is a terrific example of how to write American history through an Atlantic lens. In an account which approaches high-level diplomatic concerns from a bottum-up perspective, Gould adeptly demonstrates that the desire to become a "treaty-worthy" was one of the most powerful forces in the development of the early American republic - as most notably seen in the constitutional convention, US-Indigenous relations, and the efforts to suppress the Atlantic slave trade. This is one of the most insightful works of Atlantic history that I've read, and it is precisely the kind of work that I hope to emulate one day.

[To those who say that I'm biased because Prof. Gould is my advisor here at UNH: bite me.]

[Matthew Rohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great diplomatic history of the early republic, focussed on the importance of nation building at home through making the early US "treaty worthy" in the eyes of its European rivals. Gould trades out the state monopoly on violence for the state monopoly on diplomacy as the defining element of a legitimate state, and works through important elements of frontier expansion, indigenous dispossession, and the expansion of plantation slavery through this framework

[Bogash]

A different view of the early days of the United States and its relationships with foreign powers and native Americans. Well worth reading and makes clear why the Articles of Confederation were such a disaster.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay book with good analysis on the impact of Europe's world order on America's early development. However, writing is self-defeating in terms of clarity, and some examples, especially those that are meant to reinforce each other, can appear contradictory and deeply unsatisfying.

[Bill Cherry jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read it for my American History class. It is not as formidable as it seems at first. There is a lot of information given in a very short time. The book itself is a good reference for students of early American History with copious notes and extensive bibliography.