Long Road to Annapolis
The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic
Publication Year: 2010
Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
Title Page, Copyright Page
Contents/Tables and Illustrations
Download PDF (73.0 KB)
Download PDF (73.8 KB)
I have enjoyed a long history with the subject matter of this book and over the years, I have benefited immensely from the encouragement, advice, guidance, and support offered by my family and my professors as well as by various scholars. I am grateful to them all. I first learned about the naval...
INTRODUCTION: Armed Ambassadors
Download PDF (82.4 KB)
Modesty was not one of George Bancroft’s notable character traits. He possessed the intellectual superiority of a distinguished scholar and the self-assured swagger of an influential politician. In describing his role in creating the United States Naval Academy, Bancroft triumphantly declared:...
PROLOGUE: The Maddest Idea in the World
Download PDF (89.0 KB)
Rumor had it that he once flogged a sailor to death on a voyage across the Atlantic. He arrived in America under an assumed identity, a fugitive from justice, after killing a mutinous sailor on the Caribbean island of Tobago. At first glance, John Paul Jones might seem to be an unlikely...
CHAPTER 1 Defending the New Republic
Download PDF (232.0 KB)
The United States emerged from the Revolutionary War as a sovereign nation, at least on paper. Independence brought the promise and the expectation of self-determination as well as the reality that America no longer enjoyed the protection of the British Empire on land or at sea. Despite...
CHAPTER 2 Learning the Ropes
Download PDF (294.7 KB)
A young man who accepted an appointment as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy of the early republic received his professional education at sea. Captain Charles Stewart spoke for many naval officers and politicians when he declared, “The best school for the instruction of youth in the [naval]...
CHAPTER 3 A West Point for the Navy?
Download PDF (290.3 KB)
The War of 1812 was a testing ground for U.S. Army and Navy officers. The army’s performance was generally poor and an embarrassment to the nation in the eyes of many Americans. In a war that witnessed the ultimate national disgrace—the burning of the country’s poorly defended...
CHAPTER 4 Academies and Aristocracy in Andrew Jackson’s America
Download PDF (302.0 KB)
The election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in 1828 ushered in a new era in American politics and society. Jackson’s background as a frontier general and his apparent lack of interest in naval affairs did not bode well for the U.S. Navy. Yet during the 1830s, the navy assumed a much larger role...
CHAPTER 5 The Sword and the Pen
Download PDF (349.8 KB)
After basking in the glory of its outstanding performance in the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy experienced a significant decline in popularity in the 1820s. It also suffered from neglect by the federal government despite performing a wide range of important missions in service to the nation. Public...
CHAPTER 6 Mutiny, Midshipmen, and the Middle Class
Download PDF (325.9 KB)
By the early 1840s Americans had debated the naval academy question in the halls of Congress, in the wardrooms of navy ships, and on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Although some politicians, naval officers, and members of the public still did not see the need to replace the...
CHAPTER 7 Annapolis
Download PDF (488.5 KB)
Although there was a growing consensus that a naval academy was needed, the navy had still not achieved that goal by the mid-1840s. Several navy secretaries had advocated for an academy, but to varying degrees. Samuel Southard and Abel P. Upshur had considered its establishment a...
Download PDF (148.3 KB)
It had been raining hard all morning in Annapolis on July 24, 1905, but the wet weather did not dampen the day’s momentous event. Visible in Annapolis Harbor was the imposing sight of a U.S. Navy squadron of cruisers at anchor. According to an eyewitness, the sun broke through the...
Download PDF (73.4 KB)
Download PDF (160.9 KB)
Download PDF (108.0 KB)
Download PDF (960.7 KB)
Page Count: 312
Illustrations: 2 line drawings, 1 map
Publication Year: 2010