Sentimental Democracy: The Evolution of America's Romantic Self-Image - Softcover

Burstein, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809085364 ISBN 13: 9780809085361

Publisher: Hill and Wang, 2000

Synopsis

The provocative interpretation of American political rhetoric

Americans like to use words of sentiment and sympathy, passion and power, to explain their democracy. In a provocative new work, Andrew Burstein examines the metaphorically rich language which Americans developed to express their guiding principle: that the New World would improve upon the Old. In journals, letters, speeches, and books, an impassioned rhetoric of "feeling" set the tone for American patriotism.

Burstein shows how the eighteenth century "culture of sensibility" encouraged optimism about a global society: the new nation would succeed. Americans believed, as much by sublime feeling as by intellectual achievement or political liberty. As they grew more self-confident, this pacific ideal acquired teeth: noble Washington and humane Jefferson yielded to boisterous Jackson, and the language of gentle feeling to the force of Manifest Destiny. Yet Americans never stopped celebrating what they believed was their innate impulse to do good.

About this title

Review

The 1992 publication of Gordon S. Wood's The Radicalism of the American Revolution renewed interest in interpreting the War for Independence as an expression of national rather than regional values. Most of these studies trace the universal desire for republican governance in the 13 colonies to the Enlightenment's valorization of reason and intellect. In Sentimental Democracy, Andrew Burstein argues that this nation's forefathers were not just led by the power of their minds but by the feelings in their hearts.

Americans, according to Burstein, viewed their culture as exceptional because of their susceptibility to emotions. While European politicos coldly manipulated their subjects, Americans recognized both the benefits and temptations that their senses provided them. By the time of the Revolution, patriots such as "the martyr" Joseph Warren demonstrated their commitment to public virtue by exercising sentimental passion while restraining excess emotion. Later, both republicans and federalists defined themselves publicly as individuals moderately appeasing the appetites of democracy. During and after Andrew Jackson's administration, Burstein argues, the virtues of moral restraint were relegated to the domestic sphere, while men exerted their nationalistic sentiments in a vigorous campaign of territorial expansion.

All in all, Burstein sheds new light on the primary documents upon which the political history of this nation rests. His assertion that nationalist intellectuals such as Thomas Jefferson and J. Hector Saint John de Crèvecoeur invested as much faith in human emotion as in reason provocatively revises traditional interpretations surrounding the passionate nature of politics in the Republic's formative years. --John M. Anderson

From the Inside Flap

For more than two centuries, Americans have used words of sentiment and sympathy, passion and power to explain their country's unique democratic mission. Here the Jefferson scholar Andrew Burstein examines the emotional dynamic and the metaphorically rich language which Americans developed to express their guiding principle: that the New World would improve upon the Old. "Feeling," he argues, was a political and cultural phenomenon, and in the impassioned rhetoric of "feeling" we can locate the sources of American patriotism.

Using newspapers and magazines, private letters and public speeches, diaries and books, Burstein shows how the eighteenth-century "culture of sensibility" encouraged early Americans to make a heartfelt commitment to the Enlightenment's optimism about a global society; it would succeed, they believed, as much by sublime feeling as by intellectual achievement and political liberty. As Americans grew more united and self-confident, this once pacifistic ideal acquired teeth; the noble Washington and humane Jefferson yielded to the boisterous Jackson, and the language of gentle feeling was succeeded by the force of Manifest Destiny. Yet Americans never stopped celebrating their philanthropic intentions and--as they believed--their innate impulse to do good.

Sentimental Democracy gives us a lively dual portrait of the American psyche and the American dream--telling us as much about ourselves as about our morally passionate ancestors.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hill and Wang
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0809085364
• ISBN 13: 9780809085361
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432