Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City

by Edward L. Widmer

This fascinating study examines the meteoric career of a vigorous intellectual movement rising out of the Age of Jackson. As Americans argued over their destiny in the decades preceding the Civil War, an outspoken new generation of "ultra-democratic" writers entered the fray, staking out positions on politics, literature, art, and any other territory they could annex. They called themselves Young America--and they proclaimed a "Manifest Destiny" to push back frontiers in every category of achievement. Their swagger found a natural home in New York City, already bursting at the seams and ready to take on the world.

Young America's mouthpiece was the Democratic Review , a highly influential magazine funded by the Democratic Party and edited by the brash and charismatic John O'Sullivan. The Review offered a fresh voice in political journalism, and sponsored young writers like Hawthorne and Whitman early in their careers. Melville, too, was influenced by Young America, and provided a running commentary on its many excesses. Despite brilliant promise, the movement fell apart in the 1850s, leaving its original leaders troubled over the darker destiny they had ushered in. Their ambitious generation had failed to rewrite history as promised. Instead, their perpetual agitation helped set the stage for the Civil War.

Young The Flowering of Democracy in New York City is without question the most complete examination of this captivating and original movement. It also provides the first published biography of its leader, John O'Sullivan, one of America's great rhetoricians. Edward L. Widmer enriches his unique volume by offering a new theory of Manifest Destiny as part of a broader movement of intellectual expansion in nineteenth-century America.

Genres: History

300 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward L. Widmer’s scholarly work seeks to show the ‘Young America’ movements of the 1840s and 1850s as having been a second Revolution. Having broken the political bonds with the Mother country, it was time to break many of the cultural bonds. ‘Young America’ promoted an American style of literature much of which was through the Democratic Review, the genre style of Art e.g. the Hudson School through the American Art Union, and attempted to simplify the laws inherited from Colonial time. Many of those involve in the ‘Young America’ movement were also advocates of ‘manifest destiny,’ and it was one of their cohorts, John O’Sullivan, who coined the phrase. Widmer reminds us of several individuals who played important parts in the development of American Nationalism such as Evert Duyckinck who was instrumental in getting many of the now classic American authors published. One is also told of the relationships between many of these authors and publishers, e.g. the close relationship between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. Though a somewhat slow read, this work allows one to see the connectedness between literature and politics.
The ‘Young America II” (1850s)movement was more stridently nationalistic and factional. It was not as all encompassing as the “Young America” movement of the 1840s. They vociferously supported radical movements in Europe, and Widmer notes that by ‘[i:]dentifying Russia as the source of reaction in Europe …. [i:]n a disconcertingly modern tone, they urged American arms to be deployed against Russia in third countries to prevent the spread of alien principles contrary to democracy.’ This group of “Young America II” were rewarded by President Pierce by being given an assortment of plush diplomatic jobs. Unfortunately almost all of these appointments offended the host governments.
While reading the last chapter of this work it occurred to me that the author provided support for the idea that history repeats itself. However, it doesn’t repeat itself exactly, there are little nuances that change but similarities exist from one century to the next.

[Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent history of the movement, and with it a good angle for viewing the more progressive half of the literary scene of the 1840s and 1850s. The focus is political and the style is that of a historian.