America's Jubilee
A Generation Remembers the Revolution After 50 Years of Independence
-
-
5.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
In America's Jubilee distinguished historian Andrew Burstein presents an engrossing narrative that takes us back to a pivotal year in American history, 1826, when the reins of democracy were being passed from the last Revolutionary War heroes to a new generation of leaders.
Through brilliant sketches of selected individuals and events, Burstein creates an evocative portrait of the hopes and fears of Americans fifty years after the Revolution. We follow an aged Marquis de Lafayette on his triumphant tour of the country; and learn of the nearly simultaneous deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the 4th of July. We meet the ornery President John Quincy Adams, the controversial Secretary of State Henry Clay, and the notorious hot-tempered General Andrew Jackson. We also see the year through the eyes of a minister's wife, a romantic novelist, and even an intrepid wheel of cheese. Insightful and lively, America's Jubilee captures an unforgettable time in the republic’s history, when a generation embraced the legacy of its predecessors and sought to enlarge its role in America’s story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It has become fashionable for historians to select a given year as the focus of their inquiry and to give a portrait of a country or the whole world in that year (see Louis P. Maur's 1831, Forecasts, Dec. 11, and John E. Wills's 1688, Forecasts, Dec. 18). Burstein selects the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as his moment in this engrossing look at America in transition from fledgling nation to great power. On July 4, 1826, the nation's last surviving founders, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died. That year, then, was a time of both celebration and mourning for Americans. Burstein (whom readers may remember as a talking head in Ken Burns's documentary on Thomas Jefferson) introduces us to Ethan Allen Brown--the governor of Ohio and an avid proponent of the Erie Canal--who argued that Americans should improve the nation's infrastructure in the interests of connecting disparate people and advancing trade. He then discusses a year in the presidency of John Quincy Adams, who also advocated internal improvements in order to unify the nation, yet who was, Burstein says, a "failure as president" both on account of the diminishment in the power of the office after Jefferson and because of his own lack of political skill. The author also looks closely at the man soon to take power, Andrew Jackson, who had loyal friends and bitter enemies, and who spoke fiercely of the need to "defend the people's liberties." Although Burstein provides some insight into the lives of ordinary citizens of this time, his book is mostly a stately portrait of American politicians and elites in a year that, as Burstein convincingly argues, was pivotal in the nation's development.
