Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519-1871

by Jeremy Black

Prize winning author Jeremy Black traces the competition for control of North America from the landing of Spanish troops under Hernan Cortes in modern Mexico in 1519 to 1871 when, with the Treaty of Washington and the withdrawal of most British garrisons, Britain accepted American mastery in North America. In this wide-ranging narrative, Black makes clear that the process by which America gained supremacy was far from inevitable. The story Black tells is one of conflict, diplomacy, geopolitics, and politics. The eventual result was the creation of a United States of America that stretched from Atlantic to Pacific and dominated North America. The gradual withdrawal of France and Spain, the British accommodation to the expanding U.S. reality, the impact of the American Civil War, and the subjugation of Native peoples, are all carefully drawn out. Black emphasizes contingency not Manifest Destiny, and reconceptualizes American exceptionalism to take note of the pressures and impact of international competition."

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction

496 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Jeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of the violent and tumultuous history of the North American continent. The narrative starts with a history of pre-exploration Europe then getting into the colonial period, the American Revolution, and ending in 1871. The book gives detailed accounts on the various colonial wars, Indian Wars, the Monroe Doctrine, and even the Civil War. This book was heavy detailed with multiple players (British, Spanish, French, Dutch, Native American) and events. My only complaint was it seemed to jump all over the place. I feel this was due to the chapters being segmented by dates instead of topic.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely overdue and needed account of the geopolitics of US expansion and how it related to rivalry with other powers (especially Britain). My only qualm was the rapid blowing over of the 17th Century which was extremely formative as well as would have showed the time when Native actors were way stronger than they would be later.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I should make it clear that I am not a historian - only an average reader who likes reading about history. This book traces the control of North American territory from the arrival of Europeans until 1871 when Britain and the U.S. finally settled all conflicting claims. The author argues against American Exceptionalism - from my reading of it, he did this mostly by pointing to the many times at which things could have very easily turned out very differently from how they did. As an American who is more familiar with American history than European history, I found this idea very interesting. For example, from the book's conclusion: "...the North American Question depended to a greater extent on European power politics and the views of European powers than is sometimes appreciated, notably in American public myth. Thus, Spain's collapse under Charles IV, particularly during the Napoleonic occupation of 1808-1813, was highly important to America as Spain bordered it to the south and west. Crucially, American expansionism was helped by the extent to which the Question was usually a secondary one for European powers, a point that does not generally emerge in studies of bilateral relations which, necessarily, tend to exaggerate the importance of this bilateralism."

I recommend this book to people interested in history who don't mind a pretty dense, heavy read. I think it should be particularly eye-opening for non-historian Americans whose knowledge of U.S. history is based largely on "public myth".

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written like a history book. Too many dates and bouncing subjects. Well researched and informative but not an "easy" read.

[Gordon Saunders]

Useful to provide background information for the book I'm currently working on (Fire as Their Element, Young America, Book 4: Gaining Respect), in the same series as A Drummer in Red, , The Blood of Patriots and Tyrants; , and The Liberty of the Whole Earth (due to be published in January, 2023).

[Teddy Dodger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as entertaining as his other books but good discussion of power projection and diverging histories.

[Ed Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black is definitely going to challenge adherents of American exceptionalism who believe that the Turner thesis is best way to make sense of this nation's growth. Starting his presentation in 1519 rather than in 1783, Black places the growth of the United States into a wider geographical context, one which urges us to comprehend American expansion against the backdrop of European hegemonic ambitions. Black argues that America's expansion across the North American continent was not necessarily "in the cards."

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't really what I expected and whilst there were some interesting snippets I found the writing style convoluted and confusing; there were numerous examples of extraneous and to me irrelevant detail. Ultimately it did not add much to my limited knowledge of the period and my abiding memory of the book is that it contained a lot of words but little of substance.
I am very grateful for learning the origin of the "shot heard around the world" and of Winnebago, but little else.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of a political science book than targeted at military historians, this is my favorite book from Jeremy to date. This is a "must have" for any student of US geopolitical development. Outstanding!

[John Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an accessible book,too many dates, too many technical terms, very dense. An academic book not for the general reader.