Description
Book SynopsisA look at the evolution of presidential campaigning from 1824 to 1840. If you think politics are uncivil now . . . Winner of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Best Subsequent Book Award by the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor SocietyAfter the corrupt bargain that awarded John Quincy Adams the presidency in 1825, American politics underwent a fundamental shift from deference to participation. This changing tide eventually propelled Andrew Jackson into the White Housetwice. But the presidential race that best demonstrated the extent of the changes was that of Martin Van Buren and war hero William Henry Harrison in 1840. Harrison's campaign was famously marked by sloganeering and spirited rallies. In The Coming of Democracy, Mark R. Cheathem examines the evolution of presidential campaigning from 1824 to 1840. Addressing the roots of early republic cultural politicsfrom campaign biographies to songs, political cartoons, and public correspondence between candidates and votersCheathe
Trade ReviewFor so slim a volume, there is much to admire. Perfectly balancing evidence with exposition and nicely illustrating the visual texture of the era through images,
The Coming of Democracy is a welcomed contribution to the study of American political culture in its formative years.
—Thomas J. Balcerski Jr., Associate professor Eastern Connecticut State University. Author of
Bosom Friends: The Intimate World ofJames Buchanan and William Rufus King (2019),
New York HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Competing Blueprints for Democracy
Chapter 2. Exercising the Right of Freemen
Chapter 3. A New Mode of Electioneering
Chapter 4. We Must Always Have Party Distinctions
Chapter 5. Drums and Fifes and Hickory Clubs
Chapter 6. A Disastrous, Perhaps a Fatal Revolution
Chapter 7. Freemen, Cheer the Hickory Tree
Chapter 8. We Are in the Midst of a Revolution
Chapter 9. A Movement of the People
Chapter 10. He Will Be a Party President
Chapter 11. Bring Out the Hurra Boys
Chapter 12. Hard Cider, Coons, Log Cabins, and Big Balls
Chapter 13. Doggerel Rhymes and Vulgar Pictures
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
