Current Series Catalogue

A More Perfect Union:
The World Creates a Nation

America was built on the brains and brawn of many people from across the world. From the early Dutch settlers who brought us the seeds of the sophisticated and cosmopolitan Manhattan, to the English who gave us many of the concepts used to build our government, to the French who fought for us in the Revolutionary War, the international influences on our American way of life are far reaching and indelible. This series explores how various cultures, societies, ideas, and ideals came together to create A More Perfect Union.

Dutch
Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
The Dutch colony pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yet it seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individual rights, and religious freedom. The struggle between patriot Adriaen van der Donck and Peter Stuyvesant, the autocratic director of the Dutch colony, laid the foundation for New York City and helped shape American culture.

French
Richard M. Ketchum, Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution
Focusing on the latter half of the Revolutionary War, culminating in Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Ketchum shows the importance of the year 1780 in turning the tide of the war.

Africa
T. H. Breen and Stephen Innes, Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia’s Eastern Shore 1640-1676
This history focuses on the changing social forces in Virginia that allowed black families to escape bondage but pushed their descendants into slavery.

James A. Mitchner, Chesapeake
Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times.

Catherine Drinker Bowen, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787
There are many misconceptions that exist in our society regarding what the Constitution is and isn't; what it was meant to create and protect and what it does not. Despite the ideological disagreements, perhaps one thing can be agreed to: the Constitution is a political masterpiece and its creation among jealous states and competing interests was a miracle.

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This series was developed with funds from the Delaware Humanities Forum, a state agency of the National Endowment for the Humanities.