Charles Carroll's life began nearly four decades before the War of Independence and ended while Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was in office. As Fr. Charles Connor explains, Carroll was the last of the signers to die, the wealthiest man in the colonies and the new republic, and clung tenaciously to the faith of his forebearers his entire life.

In this masterfully written biography, which reads like a riveting novel, Fr. Connor brilliantly sets the stage for Carroll's extraordinary life by examining his ancestry, the origins of the United States, and the story of its founding. As you discover this hero's indomitable faith and energy amid shocking challenges and persecutions, you will find:

• The fascinating Irish roots of Carroll's family and the dynamics that led to their choices
• The pursuit of religious liberty in the Maryland colony in the face of marginalization
• How Charley played a crucial role in the events leading up to the American Revolution
• Ways Carroll advocated for moral principles and natural rights as First Citizen
• How Carroll's diplomatic skills and legal acumen aided in his prominence
• Ways Carroll lived out his faith and his connection to the first bishop of the United States

While you learn about the hardships and divisions in the early years of American history, you will be inspired by Carroll's finesse in defending his beliefs while also fostering goodwill and unity. Carroll helped shape our country's foundation, from his participation in the Continental Congress to the drafting of the Constitution to his tenure as senator and decades of service in Maryland. Highlighted in his illustrious legacy are his tireless efforts in promoting human dignity through opposing slavery and standing up for the marginalized through his philanthropy. Above all, Carroll was a spiritual giant whose exemplary faith shines as a beacon for our country today.

In this comprehensive history, Fr. Charles Connor details the life of Catholics in the American Colonies. It's a tale that begins with the flight of English Catholics to religious freedom in Maryland in 1634, and continues through the post-Revolutionary period, by which time the constitutions of all but four of the first 13 states contained harsh anti-Catholic provisions.

Catholic readers will be proud to learn that despite almost two centuries of ever-more-intense religious persecutions and even harsher legal prohibitions, American Catholics in the colonies simply refused to abandon the Catholic Faith.

This is an indispensable reading for souls interested in the deep roots of Catholicism in America, and in the holy courage of scores of Catholics who kept remorseless forces from driving Catholicism out of America. Among other things, you'll learn:

• The tale of The Ark and The Dove that carried the first settlers to Maryland.
• The surprisingly harsh anti-Catholic sentiments of most of the Founding Fathers.
• The Quaker/Catholic alliance that promoted both religions.
• The role of persecuted Catholics in the Revolutionary War.
• Why, in that War, many Catholics favored the anti-Catholic British.
• The French Jesuits who evangelized New York and its frontier areas, and the saints who were martyred there.
• The years in which, throughout the colonies, Catholics became an endangered species.

In the bloody Civil War that split our nation, American bishops worked for the success of the Union . . . and of the Confederacy! As Catholics slaughtered Catholics, pious priests on both sides prayed God to give success in battle. . . to their own side. Men in blue and men in gray flinched at the Consecration as cannonballs (fired by Catholic opponents) rained down on them during battlefield Masses.

Many are the moving - and often surprising - stories in these pages of brave Catholics on both sides of the conflict - stories told by Fr. Charles Connor, one of our country's foremost experts on Catholic American history.

Through searing anecdotes and learned analysis, Fr. Connor here shows how the tumult, tragedy, and bravery of the War forged a new American identity, even as it created a new American Catholic identity, as Catholics--often new immigrants--found themselves on both sides of the conflict.

Fr. Connor's account shows that in the nineteenth century and on both sides of the conflict, the Church in America was a combination of visionary leadership and moral blindness - much as is the Church in America today. From consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, Catholics today will discover ways to bridge the gulf that today divides so many in our Church - and in our nation.

By the end of the Civil War, barely four million Catholics lived on American soil. A century later, more than 43 million Americans were Catholic, making the Church a dominant force in American culture and politics.

The twentieth century was a springtime for the American Church, which witnessed the dramatic expansion of American dioceses, with towering new churches erected even blocks apart. Catholic schools were swiftly built to accommodate the influx of Catholic schoolchildren, and convents and monasteries blossomed as vocations soared.

The Catholic hierarchy and laity factored into many of the great stories of twentieth-century America, which are told here by one of our country's foremost experts on Catholic American history, Fr. Charles Connor.

In these informative and entertaining pages, you'll learn:

• What motivated the virulent anti-Catholicism of early twentieth-century America
• The daring way Notre Dame students responded when the KKK held a rally in South Bend
• One businessman's bold attempt to build Catholic colonies in Nebraska and Minnesota
• How, in 1928, the first Catholic major party nominee for president, Alfred E. Smith, turned New England into a reliable voting bloc for the Democrats
• FDR's response to New York's Cardinal Spellman, who pleaded with the president to protect the Vatican and the pope from German forces during World War II
• How Bishop Fulton Sheen's phone call to a political operative accused of spreading anti-Catholic messages led to his conversion to the Faith
• How, finally, in 1984, the United States was able to formalize diplomatic relations with the Holy See