Peter S. Onuf's Books

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

By: Peter S. Onuf

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In The Mind of Thomas Jefferson, one of the foremost historians of Jefferson and his time, Peter S. Onuf, offers a collection of essays that seeks to historicize one of our nation’s founding fathers. Challenging current attempts to appropriate Jefferson to serve all manner of contemporary political agendas, Onuf argues that historians must look at Jefferson’s language and life within the context of his own place and time. In this effort to restore Jefferson to his own world, Onuf reconnects that world to ours, providing a fresh look at the distinction between private and public aspects of his character that Jefferson himself took such pains to cultivate. Breaking through Jefferson’s alleged opacity as a person by collapsing the contemporary interpretive frameworks often used to diagnose his psychological and moral states, Onuf raises new questions about what was on Jefferson’s mind as he looked toward an uncertain future. Particularly striking is his argument that Jefferson’s character as a moralist is nowhere more evident, ironically, than in his engagement with the institution of slavery. At once reinvigorating the tension between past and present and offering a new way to view our connection to one of our nation’s founders, The Mind of Thomas Jefferson helps redefine both Jefferson and his time and American nationhood.

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437

Publisher

University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813934230

ISBN 13

9780813934235

Statehood and Union

A History of the Northwest Ordinance

By: Peter S. Onuf

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Statehood and Union

A History of the Northwest Ordinance

By: Peter S. Onuf

This new edition of Statehood and Union: A History of the Northwest Ordinance, originally published in 1987, is an authoritative account of the origins and early history of American policy for territorial government, land distribution, and the admission of new states in the Old Northwest. In a new preface, Peter S. Onuf reviews important new work on the progress of colonization and territorial expansion in the rising American empire.

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329

Publisher

University of Notre Dame Pess

Published Date

ISBN 10

0268105480

ISBN 13

9780268105488

Federal Union, Modern World

The Law of Nations in an Age of Revolutions, 1776-1814

By: Peter S. Onuf,Nicholas Greenwood Onuf

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Federal Union, Modern World

The Law of Nations in an Age of Revolutions, 1776-1814

By: Peter S. Onuf,Nicholas Greenwood Onuf

In this thought-provoking analysis of international relations, the authors relate the emergence of the modern state-societies to the experiments in constitution-making in the United States.

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244

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0945612346

ISBN 13

9780945612346

Jefferson's Empire

The Language of American Nationhood

By: Peter S. Onuf

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Jefferson's Empire

The Language of American Nationhood

By: Peter S. Onuf

Thomas Jefferson believed that the American revolution was atransformative moment in the history of political civilization. He hoped that hisown efforts as a founding statesman and theorist would help construct a progressiveand enlightened order for the new American nation that would be a model andinspiration for the world. Peter S. Onuf's new book traces Jefferson's vision of theAmerican future to its roots in his idealized notions of nationhood and empire.Onuf's unsettling recognition that Jefferson's famed egalitarianism was elaboratedin an imperial context yields strikingly original interpretations of our nationalidentity and our ideas of race, of westward expansion and the Civil War, and ofAmerican global dominance in the twentiethcentury. Jefferson's vision of an American "empirefor liberty" was modeled on a British prototype. But as a consensual union ofself-governing republics without a metropolis, Jefferson's American empire would befree of exploitation by a corrupt imperial ruling class. It would avoid the cycle ofwar and destruction that had characterized the European balance ofpower. The Civil War cast in high relief thetragic limitations of Jefferson's political vision. After the Union victory, as thereconstructed nation-state developed into a world power, dreams of the United Statesas an ever-expanding empire of peacefully coexisting states quickly faded frommemory. Yet even as the antebellum federal union disintegrated, a Jeffersoniannationalism, proudly conscious of America's historic revolution against imperialdomination, grew up in its place. In Onuf's view, Jefferson's quest to define a new American identity also shaped his ambivalentconceptions of slavery and Native American rights. His revolutionary fervor led himto see Indians as "merciless savages" who ravaged the frontiers at the Britishking's direction, but when those frontiers were pacified, a more benevolentJefferson encouraged these same Indians to embrace republican values. AfricanAmerican slaves, by contrast, constituted an unassimilable captive nation, unjustlywrenched from its African homeland. His great panacea: colonization. Jefferson's ideas about race revealthe limitations of his conception of American nationhood. Yet, as Onuf strikinglydocuments, Jefferson's vision of a republican empire--a regime of peace, prosperity, and union without coercion--continues to define and expand the boundaries ofAmerican national identity.

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276

Publisher

University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813922046

ISBN 13

9780813922041

Jefferson and the Virginians

Democracy, Constitutions, and Empire

By: Peter Onuf

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Jefferson and the Virginians

Democracy, Constitutions, and Empire

By: Peter Onuf

In Jefferson and the Virginians, renowned scholar Peter S. Onuf examines the ways in which Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Virginians—George Washington, James Madison, and Patrick Henry—both conceptualized their home state from a political and cultural perspective, and understood its position in the new American union. The conversations Onuf reconstructs offer glimpses into the struggle to define Virginia—and America—within the context of the upheaval of the Revolutionary War. Onuf also demonstrates why Jefferson’s identity as a Virginian obscures more than it illuminates about his ideology and career. Onuf contends that Jefferson and his interlocutors sought to define Virginia’s character as a self-constituted commonwealth and to determine the state’s place in the American union during an era of constitutional change and political polarization. Thus, the outcome of the American Revolution led to ongoing controversies over the identity of Virginians and Americans as a “people” or “peoples”; over Virginia’s boundaries and jurisdiction within the union; and over the system of government in Virginia and for the states collectively. Each debate required a balanced consideration of corporate identity and collective interests, which inevitably raised broader questions about the character of the Articles of Confederation and the newly formed federal union. Onuf’s well-researched study reveals how this indeterminacy demanded definition and, likewise, how the need for definition prompted further controversy.

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237

Publisher

LSU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807170550

ISBN 13

9780807170557

The Nation's Crucible

The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America

By: Peter J. Kastor

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The Nation's Crucible

The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America

By: Peter J. Kastor

In 1803 the United States purchased Louisiana from France. This seemingly simple acquisition brought with it an enormous new territory as well as the country’s first large population of nonnaturalized Americans—Native Americans, African Americans, and Francophone residents. What would become of those people dominated national affairs in the years that followed. This book chronicles that contentious period from 1803 to 1821, years during which people proposed numerous visions of the future for Louisiana and the United States. The Louisiana Purchase proved to be the crucible of American nationhood, Peter Kastor argues. The incorporation of Louisiana was among the most important tasks for a generation of federal policymakers. It also transformed the way people defined what it meant to be an American.

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325

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

030012824X

ISBN 13

9780300128246

Nations, Markets, and War

Modern History and the American Civil War

By: Nicholas Greenwood Onuf,Peter S. Onuf

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Nations, Markets, and War

Modern History and the American Civil War

By: Nicholas Greenwood Onuf,Peter S. Onuf

The limits of history -- Liberal society -- Civilized nations -- Moral persons -- Nation making -- Adam Smith, moral historian -- National destinies -- War and peace in the New World -- The North and the nation -- The South and the nation.

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388

Publisher

University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813925029

ISBN 13

9780813925028

The Origins of the Federal Republic

Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787

By: Peter S. Onuf

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The Origins of the Federal Republic

Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787

By: Peter S. Onuf

Historians have emphasized the founding fathers' statesmanship and vision in the development of a more powerful union under the federal constitution. In The Origins of the Federal Republic, Peter S. Onuf clarifies the founders' achievement by demonstrating with case studies of New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia that territorial confrontations among the former colonies played a crucial role in shaping early concepts of statehood and union and provided the true basis of the American federalist system.

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303

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812200381

ISBN 13

9780812200386

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

By: Annette Gordon-Reed,Peter S. Onuf

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"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

By: Annette Gordon-Reed,Peter S. Onuf

New York Times Bestseller Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle Finalist for the George Washington Prize Finalist for the Library of Virginia Literary Award A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection "An important book…[R]ichly rewarding. It is full of fascinating insights about Jefferson." —Gordon S. Wood, New York Review of Books Hailed by critics and embraced by readers, "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs" is one of the richest and most insightful accounts of Thomas Jefferson in a generation. Following her Pulitzer Prize–winning The Hemingses of Monticello¸ Annette Gordon-Reed has teamed with Peter S. Onuf to present a provocative and absorbing character study, "a fresh and layered analysis" (New York Times Book Review) that reveals our third president as "a dynamic, complex and oftentimes contradictory human being" (Chicago Tribune). Gordon-Reed and Onuf fundamentally challenge much of what we thought we knew, and through their painstaking research and vivid prose create a portrait of Jefferson, as he might have painted himself, one "comprised of equal parts sun and shadow" (Jane Kamensky).

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400

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1631490788

ISBN 13

9781631490781

Statehood and Union

A History of the Northwest Ordinance

By: Peter S. Onuf

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Statehood and Union

A History of the Northwest Ordinance

By: Peter S. Onuf

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329

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University of Notre Dame Pess

Published Date

ISBN 10

0268105480

ISBN 13

9780268105488

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

By: Peter S. Onuf

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The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

By: Peter S. Onuf

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437

Publisher

University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813934230

ISBN 13

9780813934235

The Origins of the Federal Republic

Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787

By: Peter S. Onuf

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The Origins of the Federal Republic

Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787

By: Peter S. Onuf

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303

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University of Pennsylvania Press

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0812200381

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9780812200386

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

By: Annette Gordon-Reed,Peter S. Onuf

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"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

By: Annette Gordon-Reed,Peter S. Onuf

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400

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

1631490788

ISBN 13

9781631490781

Jefferson's Empire

The Language of American Nationhood

By: Peter S. Onuf

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Jefferson's Empire

The Language of American Nationhood

By: Peter S. Onuf

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276

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University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813922046

ISBN 13

9780813922041

Jefferson and the Virginians

Democracy, Constitutions, and Empire

By: Peter Onuf

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Jefferson and the Virginians

Democracy, Constitutions, and Empire

By: Peter Onuf

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237

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LSU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807170550

ISBN 13

9780807170557

Jeffersonian America

By: Peter S. Onuf,Leonard Sadosky

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Jeffersonian America

By: Peter S. Onuf,Leonard Sadosky

This book analyzes Thomas Jefferson's conception of American nationhood in light of the political and social demands facing the post-Revolutionary Republic in its formative years.

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284

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Published Date

ISBN 10

1557869227

ISBN 13

9781557869227

Book's by Peter S. Onuf

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Statehood and Union

Statehood and Union

Federal Union, Modern World

Federal Union, Modern World

Jefferson's Empire

Jefferson's Empire

Jefferson and the Virginians

Jefferson and the Virginians

The Nation's Crucible

The Nation's Crucible

Nations, Markets, and War

Nations, Markets, and War

The Origins of the Federal Republic

The Origins of the Federal Republic

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

Statehood and Union

Statehood and Union

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

The Mind of Thomas Jefferson

The Origins of the Federal Republic

The Origins of the Federal Republic

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination

Jefferson's Empire

Jefferson's Empire

Jefferson and the Virginians

Jefferson and the Virginians

Jeffersonian America

Jeffersonian America

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