I. The crisis of the new order. -- American democracy in a revolutionary age -- The Republican interest and the self-created democracy -- The making of Jeffersonian democracy -- Jefferson's two presidencies -- Nationalism and the War of 1812 -- II. Democracy ascendant. -- The era of bad feelings -- Slavery, compromise, and democratic politics -- The politics of moral improvement -- The aristocracy and democracy of America -- The Jackson era: uneasy beginnings -- Radical democracies -- 1832: Jackson's crucial year -- Banks, abolitionists, and the equal rights democracy -- "The republic has degenerated into a democracy" -- The politics of hard times -- Whigs, Democrats, and democracy -- III. Slavery and the crisis of American democracy. -- Whig debacle, Democratic confusion -- Antislavery, annexation, and the advent of young Hickory -- The bitter fruits of Manifest Destiny -- War, slavery, and the American 1848 -- Political truce, uneasy consequences -- The truce collapses -- A nightmare broods over society -- The faith that right makes might -- The Iliad of all our woes.
Summary
Political historian Wilentz traces an arc from the earliest days of the Republic to the opening shots of the Civil War, showing how the elitist young American republic became a rough-and-tumble democracy. He brings to life the era after the American Revolution, when the idea of democracy remained contentious, and Jeffersonians and Federalists clashed over the role of ordinary citizens in government of, by, and for the people. The triumph of Andrew Jackson soon defined this role on the national level, while city democrats, Anti-Masons, fugitive slaves, and a host of others hewed their own local definitions. In these definitions Wilentz recovers the beginnings of a discontent--two starkly opposed democracies, one in the North and another in the South--and the wary balance that lasted until the election of Abraham Lincoln sparked its bloody resolution.--From publisher description.
Conflict and community on the eve of revolution -- Why they fought -- Identity and the military community -- The meaning of the war against the British -- Race and violence on the frontier -- Civil War and the contest for community -- The memory of the American Revolution.
xix, 321 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-308) and index.
Contents
The Gettysburg campaign : a brief chronology -- Prologue : the lay of the land; a sign of the times -- An afternoon in the badlands -- The season of disbelief -- Desolation's edge -- Flying thick like blackbirds -- Bold acts -- The wide eye of the storm -- The aftermath -- The seesaw of honor, or, How the pigpen was mightier than the sword -- Women and remembrance -- Making a living on hallowed land.
Summary
"In the summer of 1863, as Union and Confederate armies marched on southern Pennsylvania, the town of Gettysburg found itself thrust onto the center stage of war. The three days of fighting that ensued decisively turned the tide of the Civil War. In The Colors of Courage, Margaret Creighton narrates the tale of this crucial battle from the viewpoint of three unsung groups - women, immigrants, and African Americans - and reveals how wide the battle's dimensions were."
"Creighton draws on memoirs, letters, diaries, and newspapers to bring to life the individuals at the heart of her narrative. In telling the stories of these participants, Margaret Creighton has written a work of original history - a narrative that is sure to redefine the Civil War's most remarkable event."--Jacket.
Originally published: London : Pearson Education, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [327]-360) and index.
Contents
1. Inner power : Lincoln's ambition and political vision, 1809-54 -- Ambition -- Political vision -- Moral crisis : 1854 -- The religious roots of moral power -- 2. The power of opinion : Lincoln : the Illinois public and the new political order, 1854-58 -- Lincoln, democratic politics and public opinion -- Illinois public opinion and the anti-Nebraska fusion movement -- The senatorial campaign of 1858 -- 3. The power of party : winning the presidency, 1858-60 -- Presidential ambition : Lincoln, his party and the road to the Decatur convention -- The Republican presidential nomination -- The 1860 presidential campaign : the power of a righteous party -- 4. Confronting the limits of power : from president-elect to war president, 1860-61 -- In the antechamber to power : holding the party line -- From Springfield to Sumter : building a united front -- Strategies for 'a people's war' -- 'What shall I do? The people are impatient ... ' -- 5. The purposes of power : evolving objectives, 1861-65 -- Reading the public -- 'Every indispensable means' : toward the Emancipation Proclamation -- Faith and purposes -- Faithfulness of purpose : emancipation, reconstruction and black citizenship -- 6. The instruments of power : coercion and voluntary mobilization, 1861-65 -- Coercion, repression and executive power -- Popular mobilization : the 'power of the right word' and the agency of party -- Popular mobilization : churches and philanthropic organizations -- The Union army as a moral force -- The election of 1864 : 'the second birth of our nation' -- 7. Conclusion : power in death -- Chronology of Lincoln's life.
Summary
A portrait of America's sixteenth president follows Lincoln's life and career during his rise to political power and his years in the White House, arguing that he looked beyond the political system to find support in his struggle to end slavery.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 467-498) and index.
Contents
The newspaper-based political system of the nineteenth-century United States -- The printing trade in early American politics -- The two national Gazettes and the beginnings of newspaper politics -- Benjamin Franklin Bache and the price of partisanship -- The background and failure of the sedition Act -- Charles Holt's generation: from commercial printers to political professionals -- The expansion of the Republican newspaper network, 1798-1800 -- A presence in the public sphere: William Duane and the triumph of newspaper politics -- The new conventional wisdom: consolidating and expanding a newspaper-based political system -- The federalists strike back -- Improving on the Sedition Act: press freedom and political culture after 1800 -- The "tyranny of printers" in Jeffersonian Philadelphia -- Ordinary editors and everyday politics: how the system worked -- Newspaper editors and the reconstruction of party politics.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-243) and index.
Summary
"As a nation we bring many perspectives to our commemorative places and our ideas may change over time, especially on difficult topics like slavery and racism. Why a place is saved and how it is interpreted to visitors has much to do with our collective memory of the events that took place there. Using the skills of an archaeologist and a historian, Paul Shackel examines four well-known Civil War-era National Park sites and shows us how public memory shaped their creation and continues to shape their interpretation. Shackel shows us that 'public memory' is really 'public memories'. and interpretation may change dramatically from one generation to another as interpreters try to accommodate, or ignore, certain memories. Memory in Black and White is important reading for all who are interested in history and memory of landscapes, and will be especially useful to those involved in preserving and interpreting a controversial place." [from the publisher]
x, 205 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-200) and index.
Contents
Setting the stage : the war, army, and community -- Martha Washington at Valley Forge : "the worthy partner of the worthiest of men" -- Martha Washington at the other encampments : a resolute and loyal lady -- Catharine Greene and Lucy Knox : the ladies come to Valley Forge -- Rebekah Biddle, Lady Stirling, and Alice Shippen at Valley Forge : "I should not be sorry to see you here" -- The women with Washington's "family" : slaves, servants, and spies -- Camp women at Valley Forge : "a caravan of wild beasts" -- Camp women with the Continental Army : cannonballs and cooking kettles -- The general returns to Valley Forge : a distinguished officer's musings -- Appendix: Making the myth of Martha Washington : nineteenth-century fantasy vs. eighteenth-century reality.
Summary
"[This book] tells the story of the forgotten women who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge -- from those on society's lowest rungs to ladies of the upper echelon. Poor, dirty beings who clung to the very edge of survival, many camp women were soldiers' wives who worked as the army's washerwomen, nurses, cooks, or seamstresses. Though these women's written correspondence is scarce, author Nancy Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war, and soldiers' descriptions to bring these women to life. Other women at the encampment were of higher status: they traveled with Washington's entourage when the army headquarters shifted from place to place and served the general as valued cooks, laundresses, or housekeepers ... Drawing from diary entries and letters, Following the drum illuminates the experiences of these ladies, including Martha Washington, Lucy Knox, and Lady Stirling, during the encampment and then traces their lives after the Revolutionary War"--Jacket.
