Автор: Sean Wilentz Название: The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics Издательство: W. W. Norton & Company Год: 2017 ISBN: 9780393354133 Язык: English Формат: epub Размер: 0,5 mb Страниц: 400
“There are two keys to unlocking the secrets of American politics and American political history.” So begins The Politicians & the Egalitarians, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz’s bold new work of history.
First, America is built on an egalitarian tradition. At the nation’s founding, Americans believed that extremes of wealth and want would destroy their revolutionary experiment in republican government. Ever since, that idea has shaped national political conflict and scored major egalitarian victories?from the Civil War and Progressive eras to the New Deal and the Great Society?along the way.
Second, partisanship is a permanent fixture in America, and America is the better for it. Every major egalitarian victory in United States history has resulted neither from abandonment of partisan politics nor from social movement protests but from a convergence of protest and politics, and then sharp struggles led by principled and effective party politicians. There is little to be gained from the dream of a post-partisan world.
With these two insights Sean Wilentz offers a crystal-clear portrait of American history, told through politicians and egalitarians including Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, and W. E. B. Du Bois?a portrait that runs counter to current political and historical thinking. As he did with his acclaimed The Rise of American Democracy, Wilentz once again completely transforms our understanding of this nation’s political and moral character.
Introduction
I. TWO KEYS to AMERICAN HISTORY
1. The Postpartisan Style in American Politics 2. America’s Forgotten Egalitarian Tradition
II. The POLITICIANS and the EGALITARIANS
3. Thomas Paine: The Origins of American Egalitarianism 4. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Thomas Jefferson 5. John Quincy Adams: Slavery’s Arch-Enemy 6. John Brown: The Temptation of Terror 7. Abraham Lincoln: Egalitarian Politician 8. Democracy at Gettysburg, 1863 9. The Steel Town and the Gilded Age 10. W. E. B. Du Bois: A Heroic Education 11. Theodore Roosevelt: Politics and Folly 12. The Liberals and the Leftists 13. The Cold War and the Perils of Junk History 14. Lyndon B. Johnson: The Triumph of Politics
Bibliographic Notes and References Acknowledgments Index
|