Examining the complex relationships among the U.S. government, the U.S. military, and the civilian population in wartime and peacetime, this series includes coverage of major and minor wars as well as interwar periods in which significant military developments or controversies occurred. After a brief overview of the period, each volume delves into important issues, such as the dilemma of a civilian-controlled military, changing civilian perceptions of the armed forces, the line between dissent and disloyalty, and the tradition of the citizen soldier. Important documents and a detailed bibliography round out the volumes. Stuart provides a thematic exploration of civil-military themes in the era of the War of 1812. He begins with the immediate post-American Revolutionary era and works through events in the 1790s and 1800s that illustrate how the Founding Fathers used the military as an aid to the civil power to maintain political order and how republican ideology colored the kind of military system American leaders in this era believed their country should have.