The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology

by Lance Banning

No library holdings of political party development or the early political history of the nation will be complete without The Jeffersonian Persuasion .
― Choice This revisionary study offers a convincing new interpretation of Jeffersonian Republican thought in the 1790s. Based on extensive research in the newspapers and political pamphlets of the decade as well as the public and private writings of party leaders, it traces the development of party ideology and examines the relationship of ideology to party growth and actions.

Genres: History, Politics, American History

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Lance Banning was an American historian who specialized in studying the politics of the United States' founding fathers. He taught mostly at the University of Kentucky.

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Banning makes the case for the influence and transmutation of English 'Old Whig' opposition ideology in the political development of the first opposition party in the early American republic. Drawing on newspapers, pamphlets, and letters, he argues for viewing an inchoate Republicanism as the outgrowth of a century-old "Country" party worldview supremely obsessed with the corruption of governmental balance and “social health” by an overbearing, scheming Executive/administration. A worldview concerned, above all else, with the preservation of republican liberty against a perceived encroaching 'monarchism.' Thus, Republicans at several key junctures never fail to make parallels between the early Hamiltonian economic program and Robert Walpole's fiscal-military state in the aftermath of the English Restoration (see Brewer's "Sinews of Power"). His analysis depends on an understanding of ideological evolution born of both foreign and domestic circumstances as well as the necessity of claiming a 'legitimate' opposition status in a period of relative political and social comity following constitutional ratification. Banning marshals a substantial trove of textual evidence to be convincing enough, even as he hedges on the actual decisiveness of ideology for Republican Party ascendancy in the latter 1790s. Still, it is elite-centric historical analysis focused on the personalities, writings, and disputes of America's founding generation. The book is best seen as an extension of Bailyn’s “Ideological Origins,” as they employ similar approaches with complementary conclusions regarding the dialectic relationship of ideas, events and people at the founding.

[Natalie Sowa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only was this book incredibly helpful in writing my term paper, but I thoroughly enjoyed the summaries of different political theories and the detailed background information that Banning used to create his very persuasive case for the Jeffersonians as largely influenced by English oppositionist philosophy. This book has spurred me on to greater interest in Restoration England philosophy. I loved this book!

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An underrated work of history. Lance Banning will be missed.

[Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear account of how opposition thought from the earlier part of the eighteenth century in Britain shaped the ideologies of parties in the early years of the American republic. Banning's summaries of the key thinkers and ideas involved are lucid and fair. If there is a complaint, it has to do with the tendency to rely on printed books as summaries of earlier opposition writing. Banning is careful to immerse the reader in the newspaper and pamphlet warfare of the contending parties in America. It would have been nice to see as much attention to newsprint in Britain. Relying on, for instance, Bolingbroke's much-revised arguments published in book form after the heat of partisan battle (in some cases, long after) gives shorter shrift to nuanced and furious exchanges in the newspapers of the 1730s and 1740s. Since the circulation of these papers was, in many instances, orders of magnitude larger than American papers rehashing these debates decades later, it seems unfortunate that Banning's study limited itself only to books from the English opposition period. That's not an insignificant complaint, but it doesn't diminish admiration for the clear job of showing how the ideas of the English opposition shaped Jeffersonian republicanism. (For what it's worth, parts of Banning's work here have been replaced or modified by revisionists such as Joyce Appleby and others.)

[Mark Cheathem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for understanding the influence of republican ideology on the Early Republic.

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully done history of ideas, on how 18th century British ideas found a new home in 18th and 19th century US America, for better or worse.