Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519-1871

Prize winning author Jeremy Black traces the competition for control ofNorth America from the landing of Spanish troops under Hern n Cort?'s in modernMexico in 1519 to 1871 when, with the Treaty of Washington and the withdrawal ofmost British garrisons, Britain accepted American mastery in North America. In thiswide-ranging narrative, Black makes clear that the process by which America gainedsupremacy was far from inevitable. The story Black tells is one of conflict, diplomacy, geopolitics, and politics. The eventual result was the creation of aUnited States of America that stretched from Atlantic to Pacific and dominated NorthAmerica. The gradual withdrawal of France and Spain, the British accommodation tothe expanding U.S. reality, the impact of the American Civil War, and thesubjugation of Native peoples, are all carefully drawn out. Black emphasizescontingency not Manifest Destiny, and reconceptualizes American exceptionalism totake note of the pressures and impact of international competition.