Rude Republic

Author : Glenn C. Altschuler,Stuart M. Blumin
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 331 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2021-05-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781400823611

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Rude Republic by Glenn C. Altschuler,Stuart M. Blumin Pdf

What did politics and public affairs mean to those generations of Americans who first experienced democratic self-rule? Taking their cue from vibrant political campaigns and very high voter turnouts, historians have depicted the nineteenth century as an era of intense and widespread political enthusiasm. But rarely have these historians examined popular political engagement directly, or within the broader contexts of day-to-day life. In this bold and in-depth look at Americans and their politics, Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin argue for a more complex understanding of the "space" occupied by politics in nineteenth-century American society and culture. Mining such sources as diaries, letters, autobiographies, novels, cartoons, contested-election voter testimony to state legislative committees, and the partisan newspapers of representative American communities ranging from Massachusetts and Georgia to Texas and California, the authors explore a wide range of political actions and attitudes. They consider the enthusiastic commitment celebrated by historians together with various forms of skepticism, conflicted engagement, detachment, and hostility that rarely have been recognized as part of the American political landscape. Rude Republic sets the political parties and their noisy and attractive campaign spectacles, as well as the massive turnout of voters on election day, within the communal social structure and calendar, the local human landscape of farms, roads, and county towns, and the organizational capacities of emerging nineteenth-century institutions. Political action and engagement are set, too, within the tide of events: the construction of the mass-based party system, the gathering crisis over slavery and disunion, and the gradual expansion of government (and of cities) in the post-Civil War era. By placing the question of popular engagement within these broader social, cultural, and historical contexts, the authors bring new understanding to the complex trajectory of American democracy.

Author : Scott Gac
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2008-10-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780300138368

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Singing for Freedom by Scott Gac Pdf

divdivIn the two decades prior to the Civil War, the Hutchinson Family Singers of New Hampshire became America’s most popular musical act. Out of a Baptist revival upbringing, John, Asa, Judson, and Abby Hutchinson transformed themselves in the 1840s into national icons, taking up the reform issues of their age and singing out especially for temperance and antislavery reform. This engaging book is the first to tell the full story of the Hutchinsons, how they contributed to the transformation of American culture, and how they originated the marketable American protest song. /DIVdivThrough concerts, writings, sheet music publications, and books of lyrics, the Hutchinson Family Singers established a new space for civic action, a place at the intersection of culture, reform, religion, and politics. The book documents the Hutchinsons’ impact on abolition and other reform projects and offers an original conception of the rising importance of popular culture in antebellum America./DIV/DIV

Author : Wisconsin. Legislature. Senate
Publisher : Legislative Reference Bureau
Page : 942 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Legislation
ISBN : WISC:89119356145

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Senate Journal by Wisconsin. Legislature. Senate Pdf

Author : Claude S. Fischer
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 528 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2010-05-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0226251454

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Made in America by Claude S. Fischer Pdf

Our nation began with the simple phrase, “We the People.” But who were and are “We”? Who were we in 1776, in 1865, or 1968, and is there any continuity in character between the we of those years and the nearly 300 million people living in the radically different America of today? With Made in America, Claude S. Fischer draws on decades of historical, psychological, and social research to answer that question by tracking the evolution of American character and culture over three centuries. He explodes myths—such as that contemporary Americans are more mobile and less religious than their ancestors, or that they are more focused on money and consumption—and reveals instead how greater security and wealth have only reinforced the independence, egalitarianism, and commitment to community that characterized our people from the earliest years. Skillfully drawing on personal stories of representative Americans, Fischer shows that affluence and social progress have allowed more people to participate fully in cultural and political life, thus broadening the category of “American” —yet at the same time what it means to be an American has retained surprising continuity with much earlier notions of American character. Firmly in the vein of such classics as The Lonely Crowd and Habits of the Heart—yet challenging many of their conclusions—Made in America takes readers beyond the simplicity of headlines and the actions of elites to show us the lives, aspirations, and emotions of ordinary Americans, from the settling of the colonies to the settling of the suburbs.

Author : Luther Tracy Townsend
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 1880
Category : Republics
ISBN : HARVARD:HX4H4G

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Fate of Republics by Luther Tracy Townsend Pdf

Author : Jeffrey L. Pasley,Andrew Whitmore Robertson,David Waldstreicher
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
Page : 452 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : 0807855588

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Beyond the Founders by Jeffrey L. Pasley,Andrew Whitmore Robertson,David Waldstreicher Pdf

In pursuit of a more sophisticated and inclusive American history, the contributors to Beyond the Founders propose new directions for the study of the political history of the republic before 1830. In ways formal and informal, symbolic and tactile,

Author : Mark Voss-Hubbard
Publisher : JHU Press
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2002-10-15
Category : History
ISBN : 0801869404

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Beyond Party by Mark Voss-Hubbard Pdf

Captivating disgruntled voters, third parties have often complicated the American political scene. In the years before the Civil War, third-party politics took the form of the Know Nothings, who mistrusted established parties and gave voice to anti-government sentiment. Originating about 1850 as a nativist fraternal order, the Know Nothing movement soon spread throughout the industrial North. In Beyond Party, Mark Voss-Hubbard draws on local sources in three different states where the movement was especially strong to uncover its social roots and establish its relationship to actual public policy issues. Focusing on the 1852 ten hour movement in Essex County, Massachusetts, the pro-temperance and anti-Catholic agitation in and around Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and the movement to restrict immigrants' voting rights and overthrow "corrupt parties and politicians" in New London County, Connecticut, he shows that these places shared many of the social problems that occurred throughout the North—the consolidation of capitalist agriculture and industry, the arrival of Irish and German Catholic immigrants, and the changing fortunes of many established political leaders. Voss-Hubbard applies the insights of social history and social movement theory to politics in arguing that we need to understand Know Nothing rhetoric and activism as part of a wider tradition of American suspicion of "politics as usual"—even though, of course, this antipartyism served agendas that included those of self-interested figures seeking to accumulate power.

Author : Timothy Shenk
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2022-10-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9780374718633

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Realigners by Timothy Shenk Pdf

One of The Wall Street Journal’s best political books of 2022 An eye-opening new history of American political conflict, from Alexander Hamilton to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. These days it seems that nobody is satisfied with American democracy. Critics across the ideological spectrum warn that the country is heading toward catastrophe but also complain that nothing seems to change. At the same time, many have begun to wonder if the gulf between elites and ordinary people has turned democracy itself into a myth. The urges to defend the country’s foundations and to dismantle them coexist—often within the same people. How did we get here? Why does it feel like the country is both grinding to a halt and falling to pieces? In Realigners, the historian Timothy Shenk offers an eye-opening new biography of the American political tradition. In a history that runs from the drafting of the Constitution to the storming of the Capitol, Shenk offers sharp pen portraits of signal characters from James Madison and Charles Sumner to Phyllis Schlafly and Barack Obama. The result is an entertaining and provocative reassessment of the people who built the electoral coalitions that defined American democracy—and a guide for a time when figures ranging from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to MAGA-minded nationalists seek to turn radical dreams into political realities. In an era when it seems democracy is caught in perpetual crisis, Realigners looks at earlier moments in which popular majorities transformed American life. We’ve had those moments before. And if there’s an escape from the doom loop that American politics has become, it’s because we might have one again.

Author : D. Berton Emerson
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 171 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2024-03-25
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781469678412

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American Literary Misfits by D. Berton Emerson Pdf

The study of nineteenth-century American literature has long been tied up with the study of American democracy. Just as some regions in the United States are elevated to stand in for the whole nation—New England is a good example—D. Berton Emerson argues the same is true for American literature of the nineteenth century; a few canonical texts overrepresent the more motley history of American letters. Emerson examines an eclectic group of literary texts that have rarely, if ever, been considered representative of "the nation" because of their unseemly characters or plots, divergence from dominant literary trends of the era, or local particularity. These are his "literary misfits," authors and texts that show different forms of egalitarianism in action that existed outside and even against the dominant liberal narratives of American democracy. Emerson's unique contribution is revealing these texts and the people they represent as rich with political knowledge. This knowledge, he argues, finds its most potent expression in the local. Such texts show us a different kind of democratic politics: one that is egalitarian, disorderly, and radical rather than homogeneous.

Author : Jonathan Atkins
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2016-01-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317425175

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From Confederation to Nation by Jonathan Atkins Pdf

In the era of the Early Republic, Americans determined the meaning of their Revolution and laid the foundation for the United States’ later emergence as a world power. This book provides students with an explanation of the major events and developments of one of the most important periods in American History. Focusing on the years between the Revolution and the Civil War, From Confederation to Nation presents a narrative of the era’s political history along with discussions of the significant social and cultural changes that occurred across the Union’s first six decades. Taking a broad approach which examines economic changes, religious influences, political reform, cultural challenges, and racial and gender inequalities in the Early Republic, Atkins’ text is useful for a vast array of critical perspectives. From Confederation to Nation presents an accessible introduction to the Early American Republic that offers readers a solid foundation for more advanced study.

Author : Jeffrey L. Pasley
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
Page : 540 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2002-11-29
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813921891

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The Tyranny of Printers by Jeffrey L. Pasley Pdf

Although frequently attacked for their partisanship and undue political influence, the American media of today are objective and relatively ineffectual compared to their counterparts of two hundred years ago. From the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century, newspapers were the republic's central political institutions, working components of the party system rather than commentators on it. The Tyranny of Printers narrates the rise of this newspaper-based politics, in which editors became the chief party spokesmen and newspaper offices often served as local party headquarters. Beginning when Thomas Jefferson enlisted a Philadelphia editor to carry out his battle with Alexander Hamilton for the soul of the new republic (and got caught trying to cover it up), the centrality of newspapers in political life gained momentum after Jefferson's victory in 1800, which was widely credited to a superior network of papers. Jeffrey L. Pasley tells the rich story of this political culture and its culmination in Jacksonian democracy, enlivening his narrative with accounts of the colorful but often tragic careers of individual editors.

Author : Robert C. Williams
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 562 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2006-05
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780814794029

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Horace Greeley by Robert C. Williams Pdf

Describes the life and career of the nineteenth-century journalist, reformer, and presidential candidate.

Author : Billy Coleman
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2020-06-30
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781469658889

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Harnessing Harmony by Billy Coleman Pdf

Following the creation of the United States, profound disagreements remained over how to secure the survival of the republic and unite its diverse population. In this pathbreaking account, Billy Coleman uses the history of American music to illuminate the relationship between elite power and the people from the early national period to the Civil War. Based on deep archival research in sources such as music periodicals, songbooks, and manuals for musical instruction, Coleman argues that a particular ideal of musical power provided conservative elites with an attractive road map for producing the harmonious union they desired. He reassesses the logic behind the decision to compose popular patriotic anthems like "The Star-Spangled Banner," reconsiders the purpose of early American campaign songs, and brings to life a host of often forgotten but fascinating musical organizations and individuals. The result is not only a striking interpretation of music in American political life but also a fresh understanding of conflicts that continue to animate American democracy.

Author : Robert Harrison
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 355 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2011-08-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781139499026

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Washington during Civil War and Reconstruction by Robert Harrison Pdf

In this provocative study, Robert Harrison provides new insight into grassroots reconstruction after the Civil War and into the lives of those most deeply affected, the newly emancipated African Americans. Harrison argues that the District of Columbia, far from being marginal to the Reconstruction story, was central to Republican efforts to reshape civil and political relations, with the capital a testing ground for Congressional policy makers. The study describes the ways in which federal agencies such as the Army and the Freedmen's Bureau attempted to assist Washington's freed population and shows how officials struggled to address the social problems resulting from large-scale African-American migration. It also sheds new light on the political processes that led to the abandonment of Reconstruction and the onset of black disfranchisement.

Author : Austin Allen
Publisher : University of Georgia Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2010-01-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9780820336640

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Origins of the Dred Scott Case by Austin Allen Pdf

The Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision denied citizenship to African Americans and enabled slavery's westward expansion. It has long stood as a grievous instance of justice perverted by sectional politics. Austin Allen finds that the outcome of Dred Scott hinged not on a single issue—slavery—but on a web of assumptions, agendas, and commitments held collectively and individually by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney and his colleagues. Allen carefully tracks arguments made by Taney Court justices in more than 1,600 reported cases in the two decades prior to Dred Scott and in its immediate aftermath. By showing us the political, professional, ideological, and institutional contexts in which the Taney Court worked, Allen reveals that Dred Scott was not simply a victory for the Court's prosouthern faction. It was instead an outgrowth of Jacksonian jurisprudence, an intellectual system that charged the Court with protecting slavery, preserving both federal power and state sovereignty, promoting economic development, and securing the legal foundations of an emerging corporate order—all at the same time. Here is a wealth of new insight into the internal dynamics of the Taney Court and the origins of its most infamous decision.