Donald A. Rakestraw – författare

During the 1840s the United States and England were in conflict over two unsettled territories along the undefined Canadian-American border. This riveting account of the Maine and Oregon boundary treaties is brought to life masterfully by Professors Howard Jones and Donald Rakestraw. The events in this story paved the way for one of the most far-reaching developments in American history: the age of expansion. The United States gradually came to believe in manifest destiny, the irreversible expansion of the States across the continent. The country?s success with England in resolving the two territorial disputes marked the dawn of this new era. Complicating the U.S.-English situation in the 1840s was a border conflict brewing with Mexico. Failure to resolve the disputes with England might have led the United States to war with two nations at once. Careful negotiations led to settlements with England instead of war. But the United States went to war with Mexico from 1846 to 1848. Prologue to Manifest Destiny offers a rare, detailed look at the tense Anglo-American relationship during the 1840s and the two agreements reached regarding the land in the Northeast and the Northwest. Presidents John Tyler and James Polk and the robust master of diplomacy, Daniel Webster, were among the American actors who played center stage in the drama, as well as Britain?s Lord Ashburton, who worked closely with Webster to keep the turbulent conflict over the Northeast territory from escalating into war. This gripping frontier story will fascinate as it educates. Prologue to Manifest Destiny is perfect for courses in American history, international relations, and diplomatic history.

Few names in American history are more recognizable than that of Daniel Webster. No one would deny that Webster’s substantive domestic achievements assured his prominent place in American history and that his virtual embodiment of nation and union guaranteed his rank among the most significant personalities of the Jacksonian era. It can, however, be argued that his domestic resumé that garnered him the title “Defender of the Constitution” is rivaled by an impressive international one that yielded far-reaching results for a nation still struggling to find a respectable position among the Atlantic powers. In fact, his adroit handling of his signature accomplishment with Lord Ashburton earned him the additional title of “Defender of Peace.” Webster’s foreign policy achievements are too often given short shrift, falling victim to the textbook author’s inclination to hold Webster to the dominant domestic narrative that would ultimately see the nation fractured. Donald A. Rakestraw focuses on Webster’s critical diplomatic efforts--efforts that produced a legacy that ranges from the delineation of America’s northeastern boundary with Canada to the prevention of a serious rupture with Britain; from the advancement of national commercial expansion in the Pacific and East Asia to the establishment of a long-lived model for U.S. extradition policy; from his successful intervention on behalf of the so-called “Santa Fe prisoners” in Mexico to his role in promoting a crucial Anglo-American rapprochement.