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The nineteenth century was the heyday of furious contention between American political parties, and Joel Silbey has recaptured the drama and substance of those battles in a representative sampling of party pamphlets. Political parties mapped the landscape of electoral and ideological warfare, constructing images of themselves and of their adversaries that resonate and echo the basic characteristics of Americas then reigning sets of ideas. The nature of political controversy, as well as the substance of politics, is embedded in these party documents, which both united and divided Americans. Unlike todays party platforms, these pamphlets explicated real issues and gave insight into the society at large. Andrew Jacksons Democrats, Millard Fillmores Whigs, Abraham Lincolns Republicans, and other, lesser-known parties are represented here. The pamphlets demonstrate how, for this fifty-year period, political parties were surrogates for American demands and values. Broad in scope, widely circulated, catalysts for heated debate over the decades, these pamphlets are important documents in the history of American politics.In a brilliant monograph-length introduction, Silbey teases out and elucidates the themes each party stressed and took as its own in its fight for the soul of the nation.
List of contents
VOLUME 2 New Issues and Parties: Americans, Republicans, andDivided Democrats, 1854-1860 A Few Considerations for Reflecting Voters (New York, 1855?) The Parties of the Day. Speech of William H. Seward at Auburn, October 21, 1856 (Washington, 1857) The Conspiracy to Break Up the Union. The Plot and Its Development...(Washington, 1860) Salient Points of the Campaign...(Springfield, 1860) The Culmination of the Battle for the Soul of America, 1861-1876 An Address...to the People of the States Which Adhere to the Federal Government (Washington, 1864) "Union" on Dis-Union Principles! The Chicago Platform, McClellan's Letter of Acceptance...A Speech Delivered byAbram Wakeman, of New York,...Nov. 3, 1864 (New York, 1864) Modern Philanthropy Illustrated. How They Tried to Make a White Man of a Negro...(n.p., 1868) The Three Secession Movements in the United States. Samuel J. Tilden...the Adviser, Aider, and Abettor of the Great Secession Movement of 1860...(Boston, 1876)
About the author
Joel H. Silbey is President White Professor of History, Cornell University.
Summary
The nineteenth century was the heyday of furious contention between American political parties, and Joel Silbey has recaptured the drama and substance of those battles in a representative sampling of party pamphlets. The pamphlets demonstrate how, for this fifty-year period, political parties were surrogates for American demands and values.
