Winner of the Bancroft Award: "Monumental…a tour de force…awesome in its coverage of political events."―Gordon Wood; New York Times Book Review Acclaimed as the definitive study of the period by one of the greatest American historians; The Rise of American Democracy traces a historical arc from the earliest days of the republic to the opening shots of the Civil War. Ferocious clashes among the Founders over the role of ordinary citizens in a government of "we; the people" were eventually resolved in the triumph of Andrew Jackson. Thereafter; Sean Wilentz shows; a fateful division arose between two starkly opposed democracies―a division contained until the election of Abraham Lincoln sparked its bloody resolution. Winner of the Bancroft Award; shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize; finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; a New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2005 and best book of New York magazine and The Economist.
#675646 in Books 2015-06-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.20 x .60 x 5.50l; .0 #File Name: 0393351211208 pages
Review
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Detailed explanation of how both sides interpreted the slogans of ...By Arinda Lin RoelkerDetailed explanation of how both sides interpreted the slogans of the other side of the slavery argument; how every issue at bottom came up with the issue could humans be property.2 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Purchased as a giftBy bmaI am very familiar with the abolitionists and their writings and I have always been curious about their belief that slavery could be eliminated without going to war.16 of 18 people found the following review helpful. Good Start; Muddled FinishBy J. R. TrtekI think the Booklist reviewer got it completely right. If you are a casual Civil War buff or are more concerned with the military aspects of the conflict rather than the political; cultural and philosophical ones; this book is probably not for you. On the other hand; if legal and philosophical fine points are your daily bread; you'll likely gobble it up with gusto. After briefly explaining that most anti-slavery Americans put their hopes into a policy of containment that would cause the institution to wither and die; the author spends most of his book detailing fine points concerning the treaties that ended the American Revolution and the War of 1812. These provisions had to do with American slaves emancipated by British forces and demands by the former owners for a return of their "property" or compensation for its loss. Debates over these issues; both between Americans and British people and among Americans themselves helped lay the groundwork for U.S. emancipation as it eventually occurred in practice.I found the book interesting in the beginning; but by the end of the first third; repetition began to set in for me; and while the overall thrust of the book casts an interesting perspective on the intellectual run up to the Civil War; I confess I found the second half to be a long-winded exercise in going over the same points again and again. Following that good first half; the book just withered away for me.
