Crucible of Power

Howard Jones is Research Professor of History at the University of Alabama. A recipient of both the John F. Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award for teaching and research and the Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award, he teaches courses in American foreign relations and the U.S.-Vietnam War.

• Chapter 1: The Revolutionary Beginnings of American Foreign Policy, 1775–1789Chapter 2: The Federalist Era and the Wars of the French Revolution, 1789–1801Chapter 3: Jeffersonian Diplomacy, 1801–1809Chapter 4: The War of 1812 and the Completion of American Independence, 1809–1817Chapter 5: The Diplomacy of Hemispheric Order, 1817–1825Chapter 6: To the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1825–1842Chapter 7: Destiny and Annexation: Oregon, Texas, and the Mexican War, 1842–1848Chapter 8: Between the Wars, 1848–1861: Young America and the Paradox of Slavery and FreedomChapter 9: The Civil War, 1861–1865Chapter 10: Prelude to American Imperialism, 1865–1897Chapter 11: U.S. Imperialism and the New Manifest Destiny, 1897–1900Chapter 12: Theodore Roosevelt and the Search for World Order, 1900–1913

Howard Jones has written a definitive history of American foreign relations before 1913. He reminds us once again that U.S. foreign policy did not begin in 1898 as he develops a narrative that is detailed but never boring. Those often forgotten years come alive as he moves from the uncertain nation of 1783 to the powerful one of 1913.