Union and Democracy

Name: Union and Democracy
Author: Allen Johnson

by Allen Johnson

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Language: en6,726 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

United States -- History -- 1783-1865

In: History - American·History - Modern (1750+)·Politics

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #22461.

About this book

Allen Johnson’s Union and Democracy is a scholarly survey of the United States from the end of the Revolutionary War through the early nineteenth century, framed by the twin themes of national consolidation and the emergence of popular government. The author opens with a reflective preface that positions the work as a corrective to conventional chronologies, noting that “the beginnings of union are to be found farther back than 1783” and that democracy “has even yet been only imperfectly realized.” From this point the book proceeds chronologically, covering the Confederation’s financial crises, the drafting of the Constitution, the Jeffersonian reforms, the War of 1812, and the westward expansion that reshaped the young republic. Detailed maps and charts, drawn from contemporary data and the assistance of graduate students, accompany each chapter, underscoring Johnson’s intent to blend narrative with quantitative analysis.

The volume reads like a late‑19th‑century academic monograph, with a formal, almost didactic tone and frequent citations of primary sources and other scholars. Its prose is dense but clear, reflecting the author’s background in historical research and his willingness to challenge “conventional view[s] of men and events.” Readers who relish a thorough, data‑rich account of early American political and economic development, particularly those interested in constitutional history, early‑national politics, and the interplay of regional interests, will find Johnson’s methodical approach rewarding.

The opening · free to read

The title of this volume must be regarded as suggestive rather than as strictly accurate, for the beginnings of union are to be found farther back than 1783, and democracy in its largest sense has even yet been only imperfectly realized. At the close of the Revolution, union was but a name. What Metternich said of the Italy of his day might have been said of the United States in 1783: it was only a geographical expression. The formation of the new federal union under the Constitution is properly the main, though not the sole, theme of this volume. Behind the thirteen Atlantic communities lay a vast region which almost at once invited the colonizing activities of the people. The rise of this western world is a movement of immense significance. Out of the bosom of the West emerged the new democracy which transformed the face of society in the old States. Whether viewed economically or politically, this forms the second theme in any history of the times. Around these two movements, therefore, I have endeavored to group the events of forty-five years.

Within the last few years special studies have added much to the common stock of historical information, and in many ways effected changes in the historian's point of view. The time seemed proper to restate the salient factors in the history of this formative period. I have frankly appropriated the labors of others. Had the plan of the series permitted the use of footnotes, I would gladly have made particular acknowledgment of my indebtedness. At the same time I have not hesitated to present the results of my own studies where they have led away from the conventional view of men and events.

In preparation of the maps showing the popular vote in the elections of 1800 and 1824, I have drawn largely upon the data which Dr. Charles O. Paullin, of the Carnegie Institution, has generously put at my disposal. In States where the presidential electors were not chosen directly by the voters, other votes, such as those for governor, have been made the basis for determining the popular choice among party candidates for the presidency. Two of my graduate students, Miss Isabel S. Mitchell and Mr. Joseph E. Howe, have given me valuable assistance in the execution of the maps. I am under particular obligation to my colleague, Professor Stewart L. Mims, for reading critically both manuscript and proof.