Ocean State Libraries

Religious freedom, economic security, and the allure of a second chance drew thousands of settlers away from their European homeland to the shores of what would one day become the United States. Under their tireless watch, new colonies were established, new traditions, customs, and practices cultivated. This captivating volume profiles many of the individuals who sought to fulfill the promise of the New World, from explorers to religious and political...

Nowhere can intricacies of the ideological, regional, and economic tensions that erupted into the American Civil War be better seen than in the individual actors who fought both on and off the battlefields and on either side for what they believed. While some vigorously struggled for emancipation, others vehemently resisted such a notion, while still others were motivated primarily by regional loyalties and the desire to preserve the only way of life...

Following the end of the American Civil War, the country's landscape transformed dramatically as it experienced economic growth, saw the emergence of various progressive social movements, and engaged as never before in international affairs. The drivers of these changes included presidents, political and business leaders, social activists, inventors, writers, and artists. This engaging volume examines the lives of many of the noteworthy individuals...