Early National America

When George Washington took the reins of the presidency in 1789, the United States was little more than a youthful republic largely populated by farmers who could not imagine their country extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But within three generations, the nation stretched across the continent, reliant on steam power and machines to connect its people. The idea of democracy had been redefined, and cities had sprung up across the landscape, planted in the wake of tens of thousands of Americans moving west. The United States experienced two large-scale wars and a scattering of Indian conflicts; the country had witnessed the births and deaths of several political parties, but had emerged stronger and more nationalistic than ever. Reformers had retooled the nation's spiritual energies, and those who followed the lure of rich land in Oregon or golden riches in California had carried the American flag all the way to the western ocean. Early National America: 1790-1850 explains how the first formative years of the country's existence shaped the nation we know today.