num_pages: 528
description: The story of how Daniel Webster popularized the ideals of American nationalism that helped forge our nations identity and inspire Abraham Lincoln to preserve the UnionWhen the United States was founded in 1776 its citizens didnt think of themselves as Americans. They were New Yorkers or Virginians or Pennsylvanians. It was decades later that the seeds of American nationalismidentifying with ones own nation and supporting its broader interestsbegan to take root. But what kind of nationalism should Americans embrace? The state-focused and racist nationalism of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson? Or the belief that the U.S. Constitution made all Americans one nation indivisible which Daniel Webster and others espoused? In Indivisible  historian and law professor Joel Richard Paul tells the fascinating story of how Webster a young New Hampshire attorney turned politician rose to national prominence through his powerful oratory and unwavering belief in the United States and captured the national imagination. In his speeches on the floors of the House and Senate in court and as Secretary of State Webster argued that the Constitution was not a compact made by states but an expression of the will of all Americans. As the greatest orator of his age Webster saw his speeches and writings published widely and his stirring rhetoric convinced Americans to see themselves differently as a nation bound together by a government of laws not parochial interests. As these ideas took root they influenced future leaders among them Abraham Lincoln who drew on them to hold the nation together during the Civil War.As he did in Without Precedent and Unlikely Allies  Joel Richard Paul has written in Indivisible both a compelling history and a fascinating account of one of the founders of our national perspective.
language: English
title: Indivisible: Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism
publisher: Riverhead Books