The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, and Voting Popular in the Nineteenth Century

by Jon Grinspan

There was a time when young people were the most passionate participants in American democracy. In the second half of the nineteenth century--as voter turnout reached unprecedented peaks--young people led the way, hollering, fighting, and flirting at massive midnight rallies. Parents trained their children to be "violent little partisans," while politicians lobbied twenty-one-year-olds for their "virgin votes" the first ballot cast upon reaching adulthood. In schoolhouses, saloons, and squares, young men and women proved that democracy is social and politics is personal, earning their adulthood by participating in public life.

Drawing on hundreds of diaries and letters of diverse young Americans--from barmaids to belles, sharecroppers to cowboys--this book explores how exuberant young people and scheming party bosses relied on each other from the 1840s to the turn of the twentieth century. It also explains why this era ended so dramatically and asks if aspects of that strange period might be useful today.

In a vivid evocation of this formative but forgotten world, Jon Grinspanrecalls a time when struggling young citizens found identity and maturity in democracy.
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Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2016

About the author

Jon Grinspan is a historian of American democracy, youth, and popular culture. He is a curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and a frequent contributor to the New York Times.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very interesting read, although I am not sure that his conclusions are particularly valid, i.e. the possibilities of reinvigorating this particular demographic. On the other hand, perhaps the Bernie Bros will hang together for future elections. Grinspan delineates the "youth vote" between the 1840 and 1900 presidential elections, when the average voting age for the general population and the age at which one cast the "virgin vote" was 21.

Grinspan has amassed an amazing amount of anecdote into a relatively short book, and that may be the reason I bogged down occasionally while reading it. The stories get a little distracting. He has pored through legions of diaries kept by both sexes, waded through scores of memoirs, newspapers, journals --- I mean, he owns this period in terms of documentation. But he waits until the last chapter to attempt a synthesis of what it all means, and by that time the reader may be irritated by the sheer numbers of young people who flit in and out of the narrative. You have to plow through his extensive notes at the end of the book to discover what became of them after their early years; surely that has some relevance to the importance of their "virgin votes"?

Anyway, don't get me wrong. The Virgin Vote is filled with nuggets of information that may surprise the reader. If nothing else, and it is considerably more than this, the book is a wonderful depiction of a time in our history when Americans did not take their right to vote lightly. And the relevance of that to our current national election cannot be overestimated.

[Annika · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Virgin Vote explores the era of popular politics from the 1830s to the 1880s, when voter turnout regularly reached above 80% and young voters were seen as the most essential demographic for parties to fight over. You'll learn a great deal about the rowdy culture of elections and politics in the nineteenth century, youth political movements, and the lack of generational thinking before the turn of the twentieth century. In an era where partisanship was a virtue and independence betrayed a lack of manly constancy, your "virgin vote" determined which party you would (theoretically) support for the rest of your life, making it a vital, concerning, and exciting choice for young people.

Grinspan weaves together personal stories from diaries, memoirs, and oral histories with his abstract analysis, which made for a very engaging read. The individual stories spanned immense geographical, racial, gender, and temporal eras--I don't know how he found the time to delve into so many different sources, but I'm very glad he did.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great subject! Elections in for most of the 1800s were wild, raucous affairs and the first-time voters were a crucial part of the campaigns. Courted by parties and mentored by men just a few years older, even the teens got involved.
Sadly, this book is not a great read. The information is great and well-researched, but the writing feels stiff and doesn't flow. People who must have been colorful characters don'tget described in a way that you remember them in a few pages. Almost a third of the book is the appendix, end notes, bibliography and index. It feels like someone's thesis.

[April Rothenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back in 2019 for work, and really enjoyed it. It is written clearly and concisely, and ends up being an really fast engaging historical read.

[Mark Cheathem · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and informative read. Highly recommend.