Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.

by Glenn C. Altschuler, Stuart M. Blumin

What did politics and public affairs mean to those generations of Americans who first experienced democratic self-rule? Taking their cue from vibrant political campaigns and very high voter turnouts, historians have depicted the nineteenth century as an era of intense and widespread political enthusiasm. But rarely have these historians examined popular political engagement directly, or within the broader contexts of day-to-day life. In this bold and in-depth look at Americans and their politics, Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin argue for a more complex understanding of the "space" occupied by politics in nineteenth-century American society and culture. Mining such sources as diaries, letters, autobiographies, novels, cartoons, contested-election voter testimony to state legislative committees, and the partisan newspapers of representative American communities ranging from Massachusetts and Georgia to Texas and California, the authors explore a wide range of political actions and attitudes. They consider the enthusiastic commitment celebrated by historians together with various forms of skepticism, conflicted engagement, detachment, and hostility that rarely have been recognized as part of the American political landscape. Rude Republic sets the political parties and their noisy and attractive campaign spectacles, as well as the massive turnout of voters on election day, within the communal social structure and calendar, the local human landscape of farms, roads, and county towns, and the organizational capacities of emerging nineteenth-century institutions. Political action and engagement are set, too, within the tide of events: the construction of the mass-based party system, the gathering crisis over slavery and disunion, and the gradual expansion of government (and of cities) in the post-Civil War era. By placing the question of popular engagement within these broader social, cultural, and historical contexts, the authors bring new understanding to the complex trajectory of American democracy.

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Glenn Altschuler is an American writer and university-level educator and administrator. At Cornell University, he is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies and a Weiss Presidential Fellow. An animating force in American Studies, Altschuler taught large lecture courses in American popular culture and has been a strong advocate for the value of humanities and for high-quality undergraduate teaching and advising. He is a subject-matter expert on Popular Culture, Politics, and Higher Education in the United States.

Reviews

[alexa koe · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was... fine. not that exciting but it did very well in arguing against the common assertion that the 19th century was the golden age of participatory democracy. not all that many people gave a shit about politics outside of the election years (just the professional party men, who are gross in and of themselves), and a lot of people didn't care to vote at all! realistically, when you're a white man and all the candidates are white men, there's not a lot on the line.
good overview of sources, including firsthand accounts, but it read more like a research report than a historical nonfiction.

[Jonathan Madison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening look at American democracy in the nineteenth century that reveals the on the ground mechanics

[Evan Ash]

Quite possibly one of the most boring books I have ever read.

[Suzanne Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important read since much of this information is not taught in schools, or colleges. It is filled with statistics which could dull the reader, but I suggest continuing to the end.