Divisiveness is the hallmark of American politics today. Red state versus blue; liberal versus conservative; secular versus religious; the list goes on. Sometimes it seems we are no longer one nation, but in fact we are. Division and argument have always been a part of the American scene, no more so than at our founding.

In the Emergence of One American Nation, Donald J. Fraser explores the difficulties that the founding generation confronted in molding the United States into one nation. At the heart of that endeavor was the effort to create and ratify a...