The Politics of Individualism: Parties and the American Character in the Jacksonian EraOxford University Press, 1991. febr. 7. - 279 oldal In the fifty years following the Revolution, America's population nearly quadrupled, its boundaries expanded, industrialization took root in the Northeast, new modes of transportation flourished, state banks proliferated and offered easy credit to eager entrepreneurs, and Americans found themselves in the midst of an accelerating age of individualism, equality, and self-reliance. To the Jacksonian generation, it seemed as if their world had changed practically overnight. The Politics of Individualism looks at the political manifestations of these staggering social transformations. During the 1830s and 1840s, Americans were consumed by politics and party loyalties were fierce. Here, Kohl draws on the political rhetoric found in speeches, newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets to place the Democrats and the Whigs in a solid social and psychological context. He contends that the political division between these two parties reflected the division between Americans unsettled by the new individualistic social order and those whose character allowed them to strive more confidently within it. Democrats, says Kohl, were more "tradition-directed," bound to others in more personal ways; Whigs, on the other hand, were more "inner-directed" and embraced the impersonal, self-interested relationships of a market society. By examining this fascinating dialogue of parties, Kohl brings us bright new insight into the politics and people of Jacksonian America. |
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The Politics of Individualism: Parties and the American Character in the ... Lawrence Frederick Kohl Korlátozott előnézet - 1991 |
Gyakori szavak és kifejezések
action advance American appeared argued asserted attempt authority banks become believed benefit Boston capital cause character classes Clay Colton concept concern confidence Constitution corporations corrupt course created Democracy Democratic Review dependent desire economic effect efforts ends equality existence fear feelings felt force freedom Globe hand human important improvements increase independence individual industry inequality influence institutions interests issues Jackson Jacksonian July labor legislation less limited lives looked maintained March mass means ment mind moral natural object observed party policies political poor position Post Press principle productive progress prosperity protection question reform relations Republican resist responsible result rhetoric rich rule seemed sense separation social social order society sought Speeches tion traditional Union United wealth Webster Whigs whole Writings York
Népszerű szakaszok
163. oldal - And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.
58. oldal - Still one thing more, fellow-citizens — a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
103. oldal - The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do. for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities.
175. oldal - The Constitution regulates our stewardship ; the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defense, to welfare, and to liberty. " But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain and devotes it to the same noble purposes.
238. oldal - The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance...
231. oldal - In order that any society may function well, its members must acquire the kind of character which makes them want to act in the way they have to act as members of the society or of a special class within it.
80. oldal - Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, Here earth and water, seem to strive again ; Not chaos-like together crushed and bruised, But as the world harmoniously confused: Where order in variety we see, And where, though all things differ, all agree.
85. oldal - Union is not a temporary partnership of States. It is the association of the people, under a constitution of government, uniting their power, joining together their highest interests, cementing their present enjoyments, and blending, in one indivisible mass, all their hopes for the future.
162. oldal - Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the Nation...
245. oldal - Public good is not a term opposed to the good of individuals; on the contrary, it is the good of every individual collected.