This text comes from our book, The American Venture . Since resuming control of La Florida following the American Revolution, Spain had done little with the territory. Long gone were the days of the Florida missions, and far removed was the era of Spain’s glory and power. Revolutionaries in Mexico and South America were challenging Spain’s hold on the very lands that she had conquered over 300 years before. In Florida itself, Spanish power was especially weak, barely extendin

This text comes from our book, The American Venture . The cause of the Cuban rebels was generally popular in the United States, and some Americans favored U.S. intervention in their favor. The publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, though running rival newspapers, were united in promoting American entrance into the Cuban war. Despite President McKinley’s own reservations, his cabinet members divided over the question of war, with the assistant secretary of th

This text comes from our book, All Ye Lands . When Tsar Alexis’s son, Peter, was crowned tsar in 1696 at the young age of 24, he was determined to change the course of Russian history forever. He wanted to make Russia a truly great power, and to do this he thought he had to make Russia like the countries of western Europe. Even before becoming tsar, he had set about to learn everything he could about the West. After he became tsar, he disguised himself as a simple sailor and

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea . Though the colonies had won their independence from Great Britain, all was not well in America. This was especially true for farmers, who had done quite well for themselves throughout the war selling crops to the Continental army. When the war ended, these farmers could not make as much money, since there was no longer an army to feed. So it was that many farmers could not pay back money they owed, nor could they pay th

This text comes from our book, The American Venture . It was under Eisenhower that the cease-fire that ended the Korean War was signed. Yet, though the United States engaged in no other wars in the Eisenhower years, the administration conducted covert operations in other countries. The chief instrument in these operations was the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. Though no war was declared, nor UN police action approved, the United States through the CIA helped topple and

This text comes from our book, From Sea to Shining Sea . The United States was not very well prepared to go to war with Great Britain. The British had a much larger army and the largest and most powerful navy in the world. Fortunately for the Americans, the British could not send many troops to America, since most of them were fighting Napoleon’s armies in Europe. Even so, in the early part of the war, the Americans lost most of their battles against the British. Battle betwe