This is a revealing look at the history of race relations in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century portrayed through the lives and times of the first two African-American heavyweight boxing champions, Jack Johnson and Joe Louis. Incorporating extensive research into the black press of the time, the author explores how the public careers and private lives of these two sports figures both define and explain vital national issues from the early 1900s to the late 1940s.

Praise for the earlier edition

"A fascinating, thought-provoking book. . . . Hietala shows that it was not destiny but design and aggression that enabled the United States to control Texas, New Mexico, and California." Historian

"Hietala has examined an impressive array of primary and secondary materials. . . . His handling of the relationship between the domestic and foreign policies of the decade shatters some myths about America's so-called manifest destiny and deserves the attention of all scholars and serious students of the period." Western Historical Quarterly

Since 1845, the phrase "manifest destiny" has offered a simple and appealing explanation of the dramatic expansionism of the United States. In this incisive book, Thomas R. Hietala reassesses the complex factors behind American policymaking during the late Jacksonian era. Hietala argues that the quest for territorial and commercial gains was based more on a desire for increased national stability than on any response to demands by individual pioneers or threats from abroad."