Ocean State Libraries

Examines the events and personalities involved in the political development of the United States in the period following the creation of the Constitution.

Surveys the decisive years, 1789-1801, of the American Republicwhen the leadership of the Federalists formed a solid base for the government and the future of a nation.

""The Rights of Man." What does that mean? In 1789 that question rippled all around the world. Do all men have rights--not just nobles and kings? What then of enslaved people, women, the original inhabitants of the Americas? In the new United States a bill of rights was passed, while in France the nation tumbled toward revolution. In the Caribbean preachers brought word of equality, while in the South Pacific sailors mutinied. New knowledge was exploding,...