American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis [Hardcover]

Professor James Roger Sharp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 1993

During the years from 1789 to 1801, the republican political institutions forged by the American Constitution were put to the test. A new nation - born in revolution, divided over the nature of republicanism, undermined by deep-seated sectional allegiances, and mired in foreign policy entanglements - faced the challenge of creating a stable, enduring national authority and union. In this engagingly written book, James Roger Sharp offers a penetrating new assessment disputing the conventional wisdom that the birth of the country was a relatively painless and unexceptional one. Instead, he tells the dramatic story of how the euphoria surrounding the inauguration of George Washington as the country's first president quickly soured. Soon, the Federalist defenders of the administration and their Republican critics regarded each other as bitter political enemies. The intense partisanship prevented the acceptance of the idea that an opposition could both oppose and be loyal to the government. As a result, the nation teetered on the brink of disintegration as fear, insurrection, and threats of secession abounded. Many even envisioned armed civil conflict as a possible outcome. Despite the polarization the nation did manage to survive its first trial. The election of Thomas Jefferson in 1801 and the nonviolent transfer of power from one political group to another ended the immediate crisis. But sectionally based politics continued to plague the nation and eventually led to the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The hindsight of linear vision does not capture the reality of struggle and genuine peril that the American government faced from proto-party sectional rivalry during the first decade after constitutional ratification. Sharp (history, Syracuse Univ.) here attempts to correct this "historic myopathy." He reminds us that only the genuine patriots' strong desire to see the republic survive kept the Civil War from exploding 60 years prematurely. Sharp offers clearly defined objectives and concise, accurate history to keep the reader's interest. The result is a fine historical treatise. Hyperbole in the introduction is adroitly flattened in the text. Strongly recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Harry Willems, Kansas Lib. System, Iola
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

An insightful treatment of the ``hothouse atmosphere of passion, suspicion, and fear'' through which the US passed in the Federalist Era (1789-1801). To some extent, Sharp (History/Syracuse University) sets up a false thesis to knock down: that historians have tended to discount the birth pains of the young republic. Moveover, he accords scant space to Alexander Hamilton's landmark financial program. Still, he forcefully recounts one of America's most turbulent eras, in which the two-party system came into being. The Founding Fathers' high expectations that the new republic would be led by a virtuous aristocratic elite that would ensure civic harmony (as epitomized by George Washington) were soon dashed, and, by 1792, two opposing camps had formed: the pro-administration, pro-British Federalists, based in New England; and the anti-administration, pro-French Republicans, based in the South and led by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. The Federalists and Republicans each professed abhorrence of ``faction'' while demonizing the other side, and each party was prepared to go to the constitutional brink to see the triumph of its principles, with the Federalists abridging free speech in the Alien and Sedition Acts while Jefferson and Madison countenanced nullification with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Sharp convincingly argues that the election of 1800 ranks behind only that of 1860 as a challenge to the Union and the Constitution. With the House of Representatives called on to break an electoral tie between fellow Republicans Jefferson and Aaron Burr, some Federalists schemed to avoid ceding the election to the Republicans at all, while the Republican governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania prepared to call out the state militia in the event of Federalist usurpation. Jefferson's election averted the immediate crisis, but the genie of sectionalism was out of the bottle to bedevil the nation up to the Civil War. A cogent analysis of how the Constitution was tested by--and then came to accommodate--the brawling two-party system. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 378 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (October 27, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300055307
• ISBN-13: 978-0300055306
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,114,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid Analysis of Early American Politics, August 7, 2001

By 

C. Baker "cbaker" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (Paperback)

Sharp offers several themes and interpretations in his analysis of politics in the decade following the adoption of the constitution. Sharp rightly argues that the antagonisms and political schisms of the years 1789-1801 were a crucial test of the ability of our new nation to survive sharply different conceptions of where political sovereignty would ultimately lie in the new nation. Sharp details the creation of "proto-parties" -- the Federalist led by Hamilton who favored a strong central government and executive power versus the Jefferson led Republicans who favored more state and local control of politics and a stricter construction of the federal government's powers under the constitution. The schism was also clearly and primarily sectional -- North versus South. While both of these comments are an oversimplification they were two of the obvious divisive issues splitting the two camps. Sharp maintains that the election of Jefferson in 1801 and the peaceful transfer of power from one faction to another -- the first such transfer of power in our nation's history (Adam's being generally seen as a proponent of the Federalists'position) -- was one of the two most crucial tests for the viability of the constitution (the other being the Civil War).

Sharp details the political machinations of both camps through Jefferson's election and clearly shows that civil war and disunion were indeed viable outcomes and the continuation of the union in limbo.

Overall this is a solid effort to dispel the myth that political parties, as we know them today, were not created or even perpetuated by the "proto-parties" that formed during this period, although they can be seen as precursors of modern political parties. He also dispels the myth that the perpetuation of the nation was inevitable. Instead that the United States survived this period intact was incredible.

My main quibble is that sometimes Sharp sometimes leaves out some key points. Nor do I think enough attention is paid to Adam's ability to straddle the two factions and steer a more neutral course -- for example advocating a strong national defense (building a navy), pursing peace with France, and thwarting Hamilton's attempt to maintain a standing army in peacetime. Had he been unsuccessful in doing so the story of our Republic may have been quite different.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Forgotten Time, June 27, 2000

By 

Thanea Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (Paperback)

In American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis, James Roger Sharp focuses on a time period often ignored by American historian. Caught up in the excitement of battlefields, historians delved into the American Revolution or the intrigues of the Constitutional Convention. Yet Sharp's bold study highlights the battles which raged within Washington's administration. The war which raged between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson provides the excitement of the battlefield. Sharp obviously has studied the genesis of the American political sytem and the development of party politics in America's first years under the U.S. Constitution. His thesis centers around the development of political party through the supporters of Jefferson and Hamilton. His insistence upon describing these units as "proto-parties" seems to be overkill. While the reader will understand that these groups did not have the organization of a political party as modern Americans recognize it, Sharp seems to believe a reader will not bother to consider political parties in any other form. This book, however, is a fascinating study of a period about which few have read. While the casual reader might find the book cumbersome, I recommend it for any studetn of early American history.