Jacksonians Versus the Banks: Politics in the States After the Panic of 1837

The Jacksonians versus the banks;: Politics in the States after the panic of 1837

SHARP, James Roger

Columbia University Press

During the years from 1789 to 1801, the republican political institutions forged by the American Constitution were put to the test. A new nation―born in revolution, divided over the nature of republicanism, undermined by deep-seated sectional allegiances, and mired in foreign policy entanglements―faced the challenge of creating a stable, enduring national authority and union. In this engagingly written book, James Roger Sharp offers a penetrating new assessment disputing the conventional wisdom that the birth of the country was a relatively painless and unexceptional one. Instead, he tells the dramatic story of how the euphoria surrounding the inauguration of George Washington as the country's first president quickly soured. Soon, the Federalist defenders of the administration and their Republican critics regarded each other as bitter political enemies. The intense partisanship prevented the acceptance of the idea that an opposition could both oppose and be loyal to the government. As a result, the nation teetered on the brink of disintegration as fear, insurrection, and threats of secession abounded. Many even envisioned armed civil conflict as a possible outcome. Despite the polarization, the nation did manage to survive its first trial. The election of Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and the nonviolent transfer of power from one political group to another ended the immediate crisis. But sectionally based politics continued to plague the nation and eventually led to the Civil War.

American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis

History

Americas

Yale University Press

The second of four volumes comprising a biographical dictionary of state house speakers from 1911 to 1994, this book covers speakers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Entries provide basic biographical and career information on more than 1,400 speakers. The book opens with an analytical introduction and includes useful statistical appendixes. The four volumes, covering state speakers in the West, Midwest, Northeast, and South, are designed to complement Charles R. Ritter's and Jon L. Wakelyn's book American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910 (1989).

American Legislative Leaders in the Midwest, 1911-1994 (Strategic Thought)

Biographies & Memoirs

Ritter, Charles F.

Wakelyn, Jon L.

Sharp, Nancy Weatherly

Historical

Greenwood

It was one of the most critical elections of American history, overshadowed only by the one that plunged the country into civil war. The deadlocked election of 1800 has earned considerable attention and debate from historians; now James Roger Sharp reveals that modern observers didn't necessarily get it right. Only a decade old, the Constitution gave the federal government more powers than had the Articles of Confederation, causing many citizens to fear the erosion of states' rights. Meanwhile, war between France and Great Britain exacerbated the schism between Republicans and Federalists, each faction taking sides and questioning the other's loyalty. With Thomas Jefferson challenging incumbent John Adams for the presidency, a tied Electoral College vote threw the election into the House of Representatives amid rumors of violence, civil war, and secession. Richer in contemporary detail and context than previous studies, Sharp's book offers modern readers a better understanding of exactly what was at stake. Some say that this election was a "mighty democratic uprising"; Sharp argues that such interpretations are misleading. Others contend that eighteenth-century politics were no different than ours today; Sharp reveals just how distinctive they actually were. Avoiding the common mistake of imposing modern concepts onto the past, he instead puts himself in the place of citizens from 1800 to see events through their eyes. From that perspective, Sharp argues that Americans envisioned many possible outcomes to the crisis—and that a peaceful solution was far from inevitable. Sharp offers a vivid account of protagonists and events. He tells how military conflict became a real possibility during the deadlock and explains what Jefferson meant when he characterized his election as the "Revolution of 1800." He unravels the nature of political polarization and its relationship to the development of parties. And throughout he emphasizes that the participants themselves greatly feared what the future would bring. Engagingly written and uncommonly insightful, Sharp's chronicle reveals the complex interplay between the main actors and the historical context in which they operated. His book sheds new light on this crucial contest—and shows like no other work that the success of the fragile new government under the Constitution was tentative at best.

The Deadlocked Election of 1800: Jefferson, Burr, and the Union in the Balance (American Presidential Elections)

University Press of Kansas

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Books by SHARP, James Roger