Norman K. Risjord – författare

This updated volume of Representative Americans highlights three generations of colonial Americans—men and women who founded, shaped, and coined traditions of this country. This is a glimpse into a time of empire and frontier, religion, and science. The breadth of this experience is represented in the book's three sections. "Pathmarkers of the Empire" are represented in the first section. Captain John Smith and Nathaniel Bacon, though living half a century apart, were frontier soldiers shaping relations between Native and European cultures. William Bradford and William Penn came to America, also half a century apart, hoping to found a community of the righteous. In the book's second section, "Swords of Empire," the imperial, triangular contest among Britian, France, and Spain for supremacy in the New World is explored. "In the vanguard of the empire were the fortune hunters," Risjord writes. Among these "Caesars of the Forest" were Pierre Esprit Radisson and his merchant brother-in-law Medard Chouart who traversed the wilds of Canada in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. The book's final section, "Bridges of Empire," presents, among others, Cotton Mather and James Logan, who stood poised between an older order of religious humility and a newer one of political will which would later blossom into national identity.

Each generation of Americans has a special flavor, a character of its own. Sometimes a memorable decade, such as the 'Gay Nineties' or the 'Roaring Twenties,' imprinted the generation that lived and outlived it. Yet no simple rubric comes easily to mind when one thinks of the Revolutionary generation. Their accomplishments were too grand, their interests too varied, to be encompassed in a single phrase. Risjord divides this book into three sections, each exploring one of the era's dominant themes. The first section, 'Nation Builders' follows the careers of military men such as George Washington and Francis Marion and examines life on the homefront through the eyes of Abigail Adams. The section headed 'Character Builders' examines the lives of people who sought to mold an American national character, men such as Charles Willson Peale, Benjamin Rush, and Noah Webster. The last section explores the paradox that the Revolutionary generation also gave birth to an empire in which self-governing people ruled—sometimes tyrannically—over others. The founders of the American republic were preoccupied with the fundamentals of society and government. This book reflects this concern and also explores the lives of individuals who contributed to science and the arts.

A captivating and lucid narrative of America's revolutionary generation, Jefferson's America takes the reader from the earliest rumblings of colonial dissent, through the crises of revolution and nation-making, to the heroic drama of the War of 1812. Risjord deftly weaves together strands of biography and social history with military and political history to depict the rich fabric of the young republic.While most writers on this period conclude with the end of the Revolution, the ratification of the Constitution, or the election of Jefferson, Risjord contends that there is a fundamental continuity in the history of the Early Republic. The basic problems involved in creating a stable, representative government were not resolved until the "second war of independence," a symbolic end for the Revolutionary generation, which produced a sense of national unity and determined the viability of the new nation.Risjord incorporates new social and economic perspectives, and he deals suggestively with the struggle over "who shall rule at home." Yet he still presents the pivotal events of the War for Independence, the framing of the Constitution, the "Revolution of 1800," and the War of 1812 in an interesting and understandable way. This is no watered-down version of the national myth, but a subtle and well-told story.The third edition reflects new research on a number of topics; including the role of women in the resistance to British measures; the impact of the Revolution on blacks, both slave and free; and the lot of the common soldier during the same period.

A captivating and lucid narrative of America's revolutionary generation, Jefferson's America takes the reader from the earliest rumblings of colonial dissent, through the crises of revolution and nation-making, to the heroic drama of the War of 1812. Risjord deftly weaves together strands of biography and social history with military and political history to depict the rich fabric of the young republic.While most writers on this period conclude with the end of the Revolution, the ratification of the Constitution, or the election of Jefferson, Risjord contends that there is a fundamental continuity in the history of the Early Republic. The basic problems involved in creating a stable, representative government were not resolved until the "second war of independence," a symbolic end for the Revolutionary generation, which produced a sense of national unity and determined the viability of the new nation.Risjord incorporates new social and economic perspectives, and he deals suggestively with the struggle over "who shall rule at home." Yet he still presents the pivotal events of the War for Independence, the framing of the Constitution, the "Revolution of 1800," and the War of 1812 in an interesting and understandable way. This is no watered-down version of the national myth, but a subtle and well-told story.The third edition reflects new research on a number of topics; including the role of women in the resistance to British measures; the impact of the Revolution on blacks, both slave and free; and the lot of the common soldier during the same period.

The northern plains are often ignored by the rest of the nation or, if not, are mentioned in the context of the weather, Mount Rushmore, or the Black Hills. However, North Dakota and South Dakota have a colorful past-and present-deserving of greater recognition.Norman K. Risjord relates the remarkable histories of these two states, from the geological formation of the Great Plains to economic changes in the twenty-first century. Risjord takes the reader on a journey through the centuries detailing the first human inhabitants of the northern plains, the Lewis and Clark expedition, homesteading and railroad building, the political influence of the Progressive movement, the building of Mount Rushmore, and Wounded Knee II. Included are stories of such noteworthy characters as French explorer VÉrendrye, the Lakota leader Red Cloud, North Dakota political boss Alexander McKenzie, and South Dakota Democrat George S. McGovern.Despite the shared topography and the rivers that course through both states, the diverse reactions of the two states to the challenges of the twentieth century provide opportunities for arresting comparisons. This captivating look at the Dakotas’ geography, ecology, politics, and culture is essential reading for Dakotans and those interested in the rich history of this important region.