The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870

by Richard D. Brown

Thomas Jefferson's conviction that the health of the nation's democracy would depend on the existence of an informed citizenry has been a cornerstone of our political culture since the inception of the American republic. Even today's debates over education reform and the need to be competitive in a technologically advanced, global economy are rooted in the idea that the education of rising generations is crucial to the nation's future. In this book, Richard Brown traces the development of the ideal of an informed citizenry in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries and assesses its continuing influence and changing meaning.

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Richard D. Brown is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of Connecticut and has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books and textbooks with a focus on Early American history.

Before coming to UConn in 1971, he taught as a Fulbright lecturer in France and at Oberlin College after earning his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research and teaching interests have been in the political, social, and cultural history of early America. Currently, his research and writing focus centers on racial, ethnic, and religious equality in Early America.

His most recent book, coming in March 2017 from Yale University Press, is Self-Evident Truths: Contesting Equal Rights from the Revolution to the Civil War.

He is also the author of Knowledge is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865 and The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870. With Irene Quenzler Brown he is the co-author of The Hanging of Ephraim Wheeler: A Story of Rape, Incest, and Justice in Early America.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loaded with excellent documentation and rich sources. Brown's research in the subject is deep and impressively synthesized.