Typically, historians have treated the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as two separate wars of independence. No Founding Father could divine that the Revolutionary Period of 1763 to 1783 had concluded only one part, the first phase of their ordeal. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War halted overt combat but had achieved only partial political autonomy from Britain. By not guaranteeing American economic independence and agency, Britain continued to deny American sovereignty.



Despite persistent attempts by the British to control American trade waters, the United States asserted the doctrine of neutral rights and developed the world’s second largest merchant fleet as it absorbed the French Caribbean trade. American ships carrying trade increased five-fold between 1790 and 1800, its tonnage nearly doubling again between 1800 and 1812, ultimately making the United States the world’s largest independent maritime power.

To chart this epic fifty-year conflict is Willard Sterne Randall.

After a successful seventeen-year career as a journalist, Willard Sterne Randall pursued graduate study at Princeton University, where he received a Master of Arts in History. He taught American history at John Cabot University in Rome and at the University of Vermont and Champlain College, where he was the Distinguished Scholar in History and is a Professor Emeritus. He is the author of several books, including Ethan Allen: His Life and Times, Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor, Alexander Hamilton: A Life, and most recently, Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution.