Search results for ""Thomas Richards, Jr." "Breakaway Americas""

Book SynopsisA reinterpretation of a key moment in the political history of the United Statesand of the Americans who sought to decouple American ideals from US territory. Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist UniversityMost Americans know that the state of Texas was once the Republic of Texasan independent sovereign state that existed from 1836 until its annexation by the United States in 1846. But few are aware that thousands of Americans, inspired by Texas, tried to establish additional sovereign states outside the borders of the early American republic. In Breakaway Americas, Thomas Richards, Jr., examines six such attempts and the groups that supported them: patriots who attempted to overthrow British rule in Canada; post-removal Cherokees in Indian Territory; Mormons first in Illinois and then the Salt Lake Valley; Anglo-American overland immigrants in both Mexican California and Oregon; and, of course, Anglo-Americans in TexaTrade ReviewBreakaway Americas is an important book in that it reminds historians that contingency mattered in helping to shape the eventual borders of the United States.—Michael A. Hill, American Nineteenth Century HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One. The Texas Moment Chapter Two. Perfecting America in Canada Chapter Three. Mormon Zion and the Quest for an American Theocracy Chapter Four. The Cherokee Nation and the Quest for a Native Republic Chapter Five. The Seigneurial Republic of California Chapter Six. The White Yeomen's Republic of Oregon Chapter Seven. The End of the Texas Moment Epilogue Notes Index

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