num_pages: 292
description: During the period 1815-1830, the American public scene was dominated by a single, apparently uncontested, political party⁠—the Jeffersonian Republicans. What had become of the formerly powerful Federalist party of Washington and Adams? Had it disintegrated completely after the conclusion of the war with France? In considering these questions, Shaw Livermore, Jr., finds, to the contrary, that there were substantial numbers of men, many of them able and ambitious, who identified themselves with the Federalist party in the northern and middle states throughout this period. this book assesses the actions and accomplishments of these men.Following the War of 1812, the Jeffersonian leaders adopted many, if not most, of the major Federalist policies that had been formed during the 1790s. They still feared and distrusted the Federalists, however, to the extent of keeping them out of appointed or elected office became an avowed and astonishingly effective Jeffersonian policy. During these years of no cohesive party policy, much of individual Federalist activity was motivated by the desire for political office and public acceptance. The effect of this course of action was crucial in preventing the Federalists from becoming a powerful disaffected minority in the country and as a determining factor in shaping Federalist support of the several Jeffersonian factions that emerged on both the state and national levels. Only with the election of Jackson, and his appointment of scores of Federalists to public office, was the stigma of "Federalist" overcome and a new party alignment achieved.
language: English
title: Twilight of Federalism: The Disintegration of the Federalist Party, 1815-1830
titlecomplete: Twilight of Federalism: The Disintegration of the Federalist Party, 1815-1830
characters: Martin Van Buren, Daniel Webster, Robert Walsh, Jr., William Coleman, Timothy Pickering, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, John Sergeant, Rufus King, Andrew Jackson
ratings_count: 2
publisher: Gordian Pr Inc