The Roots of Democracy: American Thought and Culture, 1760–1800 - Softcover

Shalhope, Robert E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742532658 ISBN 13: 9780742532656

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004

Synopsis

The last half of the eighteenth century was a period of enormous cultural and intellectual ferment in America-an era of fundamental transformation in law, politics, and religion, as well as deep changes in the American social order. At the center of the turmoil was the American Revolution, an event with roots reaching far back into the colonial period and effects extending well into the nineteenth century.

In The Roots of Democracy: American Thought and Culture, 1760-1800 Robert E. Shalhope traces the dramatic shifts in attitudes and behavior from before the Revolution, through the war itself, the creation of republican governments, and the conflicts of the 1790s. This outstanding synthesis addresses a number of recurrent themes in American cultural history, including the persistence of conflict between democratic impulses and elitist tendencies-a conflict that has resurfaced in our own time. Anyone seeking to understand American political thought will find this straightforward and provocative book a useful entry into the subject and will come away with a deeper awareness of the origins and meaning of American democracy.

The Roots of Democracy is an outstanding synthesis that provides provocative insights into a vital time in which the forces that formed modern American democracy took shape.

About this title

About the Author

Robert E. Shalhope is George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the Department of History at Oklahoma University.

Review

This is a fascinating, well-crafted, and much-needed book. Shalhope sums up the best current research on the origins of early national thought and culture in the United States, showing the inextricable relationship of republicanism and liberalism in our democratic heritage. The book is wide-ranging, thoughtful, and extremely well-written. (Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University)

Robert E. Shalhope . . . demonstrates how this critical transition period was marked by the creative intermingling of traditional hierarchical and modern egalitarian attitudes and patterns of behavior, preparing the way for the emergence of a dynamic culture in the nineteenth century. This is a stimulating and rewarding synthesis. (James H. Kettner, University of California, Berkeley)

A sophisticated and significant synthesis of recent scholarship on the ideology and values of America's Age of Revolution. Exploring culture as 'systems of meaning,' [Shalhope] skillfully charts the simultaneous disintegration of traditional hierarchical norms and the rise of ambitious materialism and individualism in the decades 1760-1800. This book is a valuable tool for both the scholar and the teacher. (Steven Watts, University of Missouri-Columbia)

Robert E. Shalhope's book, the work of a leading scholar on forms of American republican thought, is a deftly expert and up-to-date summary, especially successful in relating socioeconomic to intellectual and cultural elements. (Marcus Cunliffe, George Washington University, George Washington University)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0742532658
• ISBN 13: 9780742532656
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216