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America's Forgotten History #1
America's Forgotten History, Part One: Foundations
History is written by the victors. But do the victors in America’s forgotten debate really have it right? Do they even think about whether it is America’s destiny to be both a nanny state and garrison state? American’s Forgotten History questions standard understanding from a constitutionalist point of view.
This, the first of five volumes, looks at the English Civil War, fought between Puritans and Cavaliers. It then follows Puritans as they flee Cavalier power to Massachusetts and later Cavaliers as they flee Puritan power to Virginia. Puritans and Cavaliers allied against the mercantilism of England to form a new system based on the Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the English Bill of Rights, and the Enlightenment philosophy of Locke and Montesquieu. They would maintain their uneasy alliance until they fought another civil war on a new continent.
After the American Revolution, parties formed around Jefferson and Hamilton that would frame American’s philosophical debate until the collapse of Jeffersonianism at the Democratic convention of 1896. The debate, so important in the 19th century and so important if America is to rediscover itself, is ignored by the victors of the debate, those who give us standard American history. Modern historians extol activist war-like presidents, high taxes, super government, and aggressive international militarism. The Constitution, as it was written and intended, makes all that impossible.
This volume, Part One of America’s Forgotten History, covers English roots, the colonial period, the Revolution, the Constitution, and the first four presidential administrations, those of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.
This, the first of five volumes, looks at the English Civil War, fought between Puritans and Cavaliers. It then follows Puritans as they flee Cavalier power to Massachusetts and later Cavaliers as they flee Puritan power to Virginia. Puritans and Cavaliers allied against the mercantilism of England to form a new system based on the Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the English Bill of Rights, and the Enlightenment philosophy of Locke and Montesquieu. They would maintain their uneasy alliance until they fought another civil war on a new continent.
After the American Revolution, parties formed around Jefferson and Hamilton that would frame American’s philosophical debate until the collapse of Jeffersonianism at the Democratic convention of 1896. The debate, so important in the 19th century and so important if America is to rediscover itself, is ignored by the victors of the debate, those who give us standard American history. Modern historians extol activist war-like presidents, high taxes, super government, and aggressive international militarism. The Constitution, as it was written and intended, makes all that impossible.
This volume, Part One of America’s Forgotten History, covers English roots, the colonial period, the Revolution, the Constitution, and the first four presidential administrations, those of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.
377 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 6, 2012
I loved this book. I found the history being taught here more in an American point of view than in the Progressive point of view which I was taught in US Public School by NEA Union teachers. Yes, I put it down a few times to read other things, but that was in part to 'digest' what I read.
I am looking forward to starting Part 2, after I finish Churchill's "Their Finest Hour".
I am looking forward to starting Part 2, after I finish Churchill's "Their Finest Hour".
November 17, 2012
This is the first of what was to be five volumes of American History. Mr. Ledbetter has shortened to three. In this first volume, Mr. Ledbetter talks about our early history from the first settlements up until the end of the Madison presidency. He laments that we've strayed so far from our foundations--foundations built upon freedom and personal liberty. A couple of great quotes from the book:
"Though Jefferson has reached a level of fame and semi-divinity in modern America to which Hamilton could never hope to aspire, it is an empty success. It is Hamilton - and his great generals Clay, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Wilson, and F. D. Roosevelt - who has prevailed. We live in his America and both parties now pursue variations of his agenda. He has, in other words, captured even Jefferson's party. Grover Cleveland, the great small-government, low-tax, free trade, gold standard, anti-imperial constitutionalist, was the last true Democrat before the Jeffersonian foundations of the party collapsed at the Democratic convention of 1896."
"There was more behind the early hardships, though, than the simple cataloging of ignorance in the ways of wilderness survival given us by standard histories. Both the aristocratic investors in Jamestown and the more bourgeois investors in Plymouth had deduced that communal land ownership would insure that profits were sent home rather than hoarded by landowners. All would work for the public good, they decided. All would contribute to and draw from the public pool. But when an individual contribution is divided among the many, there is little incentive for the individual to contribute. The pool remained dry. These, our first experiments in communism, met with the same fate as the world’s modern experiments: people died in droves. They came to an Eden and starved amidst plenty. Sir Thomas Dale in Jamestown and William Bradley in Massachusetts arrived independently at the same solution to the problem. Step-by-step, they introduced private property. Once men and their families could keep what they produced, the streets emptied of game players; Indian villages emptied of English servants, English beggars, and English thieves. Women and children suddenly found that they did, in fact, have strength to work the fields. The dying times ended."
I highly recommend this balanced, thorough, history for those seeking an alternative view of American history.
"Though Jefferson has reached a level of fame and semi-divinity in modern America to which Hamilton could never hope to aspire, it is an empty success. It is Hamilton - and his great generals Clay, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Wilson, and F. D. Roosevelt - who has prevailed. We live in his America and both parties now pursue variations of his agenda. He has, in other words, captured even Jefferson's party. Grover Cleveland, the great small-government, low-tax, free trade, gold standard, anti-imperial constitutionalist, was the last true Democrat before the Jeffersonian foundations of the party collapsed at the Democratic convention of 1896."
"There was more behind the early hardships, though, than the simple cataloging of ignorance in the ways of wilderness survival given us by standard histories. Both the aristocratic investors in Jamestown and the more bourgeois investors in Plymouth had deduced that communal land ownership would insure that profits were sent home rather than hoarded by landowners. All would work for the public good, they decided. All would contribute to and draw from the public pool. But when an individual contribution is divided among the many, there is little incentive for the individual to contribute. The pool remained dry. These, our first experiments in communism, met with the same fate as the world’s modern experiments: people died in droves. They came to an Eden and starved amidst plenty. Sir Thomas Dale in Jamestown and William Bradley in Massachusetts arrived independently at the same solution to the problem. Step-by-step, they introduced private property. Once men and their families could keep what they produced, the streets emptied of game players; Indian villages emptied of English servants, English beggars, and English thieves. Women and children suddenly found that they did, in fact, have strength to work the fields. The dying times ended."
I highly recommend this balanced, thorough, history for those seeking an alternative view of American history.
October 16, 2011
Who knew that a major reason the Pilgrims starved for the first two years after coming to America was that they had adopted total Collectivism and a significant number decided to it was more enjoyable to sit in the Commons and chat than cut down trees, plow and plant.
"In 1623, he (William Bradford) instituted private agriculture and land ownership. In his History of Plymouth Plantation, he describes the pathetic and degraded condition of colonists during the communal times. Many, he wrote, …sold away their clothes and bed coverings; others (so base were they) became servants to the Indians, and would cut them wood and fetch them water for a cupful of corn; others fell to plain stealing, both night and day, from the Indians. Massachusetts Bay Colony thrived under Bradford’s changes. By the end of his tenure, with private property and free market economics firmly established, New Englanders had possibly the highest standard of living in the world.
Ledbetter, Mark David (2010-04-12). America's Forgotten History, Part 1: Foundations (Kindle Locations 660-669). Mark David Ledbetter. Kindle Edition.
"In 1623, he (William Bradford) instituted private agriculture and land ownership. In his History of Plymouth Plantation, he describes the pathetic and degraded condition of colonists during the communal times. Many, he wrote, …sold away their clothes and bed coverings; others (so base were they) became servants to the Indians, and would cut them wood and fetch them water for a cupful of corn; others fell to plain stealing, both night and day, from the Indians. Massachusetts Bay Colony thrived under Bradford’s changes. By the end of his tenure, with private property and free market economics firmly established, New Englanders had possibly the highest standard of living in the world.
Ledbetter, Mark David (2010-04-12). America's Forgotten History, Part 1: Foundations (Kindle Locations 660-669). Mark David Ledbetter. Kindle Edition.
April 5, 2013
This is the best book on early American History that I have ever read. It ties disjointed pieces of American history together to create an incredible narrative. While the author has a libertarian bias, which he freely admits, he fills in missing facts that provide the reason why events happened as they did. For example, the British were marching to Concord and Lexington to go after arms because the British didn't want Americans to be armed. I had always wondered why the British marched out of Boston to Concord and Lexington to look for a cache of guns and powders, now I know why. I have been reading American history for over 15 years and this book put in perspective for me.
June 1, 2014
I promised myself I would read something from the other side. I found this book to be quite entertaining, despite the author's frequent lapse into libertarian cant, which was quite silly. He did point out some interesting facts about American history, so on the whole this book is worth the read.
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October 12, 2012Enlightening! One has to read several studies to get a clear picture of history and this book adds to the process.
August 2, 2020
It is an outstanding history of the United States. There are a total of four volumes. I think they all should read. Two more are to come. I just say that as the U.S. gets more complex so do the stories but they are surely worth the grind. I hope that the author can suggest a way out of our current problem of world wide imperialism which is killing our country.
February 29, 2020
Enjoyed a lot. Liked the autohors Libertarian bias - nice change from the normal biases. A lot of stuff I did not know. Will continue reading the series
December 8, 2014
I have just started the second book in the series, but this is the best history series of the USA I have ever read, judging from what I have read so far. Ledbetter doesn't just regurgitate facts. He writes about what is significant and why it is significant. He gets into the motivations and underlying philosophy of the actors. You will learn the intentions of the founders of the Constitution and how the early political leaders immediately started straying from the intentions. Ledbetter doesn't just monotonously spew out events in chronological order. He moves forward and backward in time when necessary to tie related events together making causal threads easy to understand and remember. He injects reasoning to explain the why's of the happenings, what is wrong, how it will affect the future or how it did affect the future. For example, he may mention George Washington and Obama and other political figures in between in one paragraph while covering the fifth or sixth president. He also doesn't hesitate to mention probable/likely effects on the future.
Unlike public school (and many other) history books, this series tells a story that is interesting and fun to read. It is also important to read if you are interested in politics, economy, freedom, wealth, poverty and individual rights. In other words if you want to understand what is wrong with our government today and how to fix it.
Unlike public school (and many other) history books, this series tells a story that is interesting and fun to read. It is also important to read if you are interested in politics, economy, freedom, wealth, poverty and individual rights. In other words if you want to understand what is wrong with our government today and how to fix it.
November 25, 2012
This book was amazing, especially if you like to read about history. It does a very good job of detailing things that have not been focused on in the past. I, like others who have reviewed this book, would have loved to have had this a history book when I was in school. If you do not like history, it may a little difficult to get through at times, but overall, this would be an interesting read for most anyone. Enjoy!!
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April 9, 2013 America's Forgotten History questions standard history from a constitutionalist point of view. Should be required reading in every good government class at the secondary level as a supplement to standardized curriculum. An eye opening, thought provoking discussion starter that can spark a new debate in American consciousness.
July 26, 2014
Ledbetter offers a, in my opinion, reasonable while conservative perspective that I found helpful as adjunct to Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States.
February 4, 2015
Refreshing look at early American History.
How far we have come: Ledbetter has an almost heretical view on our history. It is well-written, and easy to digest.
How far we have come: Ledbetter has an almost heretical view on our history. It is well-written, and easy to digest.
January 8, 2017
This is the history book universities should have their students read. My only complaint is the lack of footnotes.
May 2, 2017
Ledbetter has given us one of the most intriguing histories on America I have ever read. It's crowning achievement is its fairness to all sides. Much of what we are told in history classes is the acceptable academic puree of pop culture as history. Ledbetter goes the extra mile and makes us think about what truly happened in previous centuries. it is neither right or left propaganda, but facts as we can find by digging honestly.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews