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Vol. 24:2 ISSN 0160-8460 August 1996
NHPRC Publishes Emerging Nation Volumes
The NHPRC is pleased to announce the publication of the first two volumes of The Emerging Nation: A Documentary History of the Foreign Relations of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, 1780-1789. The three-volume documentary edition is intended to serve as a scholarly introduction to the understanding of United States foreign relations through the publication of key documents of its formative years and to encourage further investigation and study of early diplomatic history. The volumes begin with negotiations with France and Great Britain in 1780 and end in 1789 with adoption of the United States Constitution and the establishment of the Federal government. The documents trace the battles of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and others to secure the new nation and to confirm in diplomatic arenas the freedoms gained on the battlefields of the American Revolution.
In order to give the volumes the depth and scholarly scope required of a modern documentary edition, the publication includes archival materials from the British Public Records Office; the Archives du Minist&#egrave;re des Affaires Etrang&#egrave;res of France; the Papers of the Continental and Confederation Congresses; and a selection of the personal letters and other documents of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, David Hartley, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Vaughan.
These volumes will provide scholars, professors, and graduate and undergraduate students with a basic work for reference and original research, for class and seminar assignments and papers, and for graduate and undergraduate theses. In addition to scholars, professors, and university students, other groups should find the volumes valuable - political scientists, government officials, lawyers, and individuals in the international community interested in the development of early United States foreign policy.
Volume One, Recognition of Independence, includes the extensive peace negotiations leading to the Treaty of Paris of 1783. Volume Two, Trials and Tribulations, explores the frustrations in diplomacy associated in part with the inability of the government under the Articles of Confederation to control commerce, to tax the states for needed revenues, and to enforce treaties. Volume Three, Toward Federal Diplomacy, will reflect continued diplomatic efforts to reach foreign agreements to enhance United States security in the world community while political leaders established a federal union. Volume Three will be published by fall 1996.
Since 1991, Mary A. Giunta, NHPRC staff member, has served as Editor-in-Chief and Project Director. J. Dane Hartgrove joined the staff in 1992 as Associate Editor. Three leading historians - Norman Graebner, Peter Hill, and Lawrence Kaplan - assisted as consulting editors. More than twenty National Archives and Records Administration volunteers assisted with research, proofreading, transcribing, map-making, and translating documents.
In addition to the three-volume edition, published by the Government Printing Office, the project includes two other components: a reader for college and university classroom use, to be published by Scholarly Resources, and an educational kit for grade school use, to be published by Golden Owl Publishing Co., Inc. Work on these will be completed by September 1996. Publication dates will be printed in the next issue of Annotation and through press releases.
These volumes may be ordered by telephone (202-512-1800, 8am to 4pm eastern time weekdays), fax (202-512-2250, 24 hours a day), or mail. Orders must cite stock number 030-000- 00268-7 for Volume One ($44), 030-000-00269-5 for Volume Two ($46), and 030-000-00270-5 for Volume Three (not yet priced). Telephone and fax orders may be paid by MasterCard or VISA. Mail orders must include either credit card information or a check payable to Superintendent of Documents. Send to Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954.
