The varieties of political experience in eighteenth-century America
By: Richard R. Beeman.
Series: Early American studies
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 366
Subjects: Political culture -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Regionalism -- United States -- History -- 18th century; Democracy -- United States -- History -- 18th century; United States -- Politics and government -- To 1775
Other titles: Varieties of political experience in 18th-century America
Description: "In The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America, Richard R. Beeman offers an overview of political life in pre-Revolutionary America. Ranging from Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania to the backcountry regions of the South, the Mid-Atlantic, and northern New England, Beeman reveals an extraordinary diversity of political belief and practice. In doing so, he closes the gap between eighteenth-century political rhetoric and reality." "Political life in eighteenth-century America, Beeman demonstrates, was diffuse and fragmented, with America's British subjects and their leaders often speaking different political dialects altogether. Although the majority of people living in America before the Revolution would not have used the term "democracy," important changes were under way that were making it increasingly difficult for political leaders to ignore "popular pressures." As the author shows in a final chapter on the Revolution, those popular pressures, once unleashed, were difficult to contain and drove the colonies slowly and unevenly toward a democratic form of government. Synthesizing a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Beeman offers an account of the way politics actually worked in this formative time for American political culture."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-338) and index.