The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln

Sean Wilentz's The Rise Of American Democracy is a tour de force. It is a long way from beginning to end. The journey is like traveling from Boston to Richmond in the 1800's by coach. Be prepared for a bumpy, arduous ride. It is well worth the trip. You arrive exhausted but the better for it. Gordon S. Wood in his review for the NY Times said probably only graduate history students would read the book. Tell Professor Wood that I am not a graduate student but I feel like one because of how much I learned about American democracy from Wilentz's book.In the beginning was Jefferson & his Republican reaction to the Federalist cause & in the end another Republican of a different stripe, Abraham Lincoln. In the middle towers Andrew Jackson eroding the government of, by, and for the Privilaged Few by the torrents of his Populism. All those Presidents in between (there are eleven excluding Jackson) come to life in this hefty piece of scholarship. The dramatic tension is between those Presidents, Congress, the Court, & the people; it is the struggle to define democracy. Political differences are seen to coalesce to form parties, some more well defined than others but none maintaining the granite like identity of the now conservative & liberal parties in Great Britain. American political parties (when they appeared) were giant blobs of improvisation using the power of their constituencies to puff themselves up to govern for a time then deflate & morphing into something else again. It is an enchanting tale. The rise continues to this day.Somehow my early education never connected the dots between the Founding Fathers & the American Revolution & Lincoln's Second Revolution. The dots get connected but the picture is not graphically pleasing. The rise of American democracy was an evolutionary process that was essentially gritty & chaotic but the themes Wilentz exposes are what make the story so much fun to read & so valuable to learn. I now have a better understanding of how we got here & the trip was well worth the ride.

This is the definitive history of the critical formative period in American history in which the nation moved from its aristocratic and republican roots to more of a pure democracy. The great irony is that during this same time the South became more and more invested in its hierarchical society based on slave power.Wilentz tells the story forcefully and meticulously. He also tells it with some flair. The sketches of Clay, Jackson, Van Buren, Webster, Calhoun, and Polk are particularly compelling and interesting. You will have to be patient with the long wind-up that sets the background of the book and brings the reader up to the War of 1812. Once you get to the War of 1812, the book takes off, and the characters that pepper the history of this period come to life.Although the flyleaf compares Wilentz to Hofstadter, Wilentz lacks Hofstadter's interpretive flair and breadth of vision. He sticks to his narrative and to a handful and relatively simple but important themes. Also, Wilentz is not quite the narrative historian that David Potter and James McPherson are. Potter's "The Impending Crisis" is still the great history of the immediate antebellum era (1848-61) and James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom", which also runs from 1848 but through the end of the Civil War, is also a leading work of the period. Wilentz, however, ties the period into the context of the first half of the 18th century. His contribution in that regard is invaluable.Stick with this book despite its slow beginning and great length. It's definitely worth the effort.

Other reviewers have done a good job of explaining the theme of the book as well as its virtues and flaws. I don't like Sean Wilentz or heed any of his commentary on modern politics, but I am glad I read the book. It covers a very complicated period in our history - one often neglected - and he generally does a good job as a writer in explaining the issues and carrying readers along.That is, if you are a serious history buff with a long attention span. This book is not for light readers with a cursory interest in the period in question.Do proceed with caution. Wilentz caricatures the early Federalists to some extent, and he sometimes goes easy on the Democratic Party. This naturally reflects his democratic - small 'd' - bias. Wilentz also likes to think he's savvier than most historians in assessing the true intentions of important figures, and the actual consequences of the major events, during that time. He flatters himself too much.Yet Wilentz has enough integrity to recognize the faults of many of our post-revolutionary and antebellum leaders and he doesn't really whitewash anything. He is especially good detailing ground-level and grass-roots fights in localities and states over the nature and extent of democracy.A worthwhile read despite its flaws. I'd also recommend What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe and Throes of Democracy by Walter McDougall for different though less detailed interpretations of the same era.