Customer Reviews

Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century.

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"Rude Republic" is an attempt to portray the heated political atmosphere of the first years of the United States, where everyone seemed to have a political opinion on any subject and was willing to share it. It's a great premise of a politically charged time in US history that hasn't really been explored in great detail. The authors attempt to dispute the premise that the average citizen during the 19th century was politically active because of the exceptionally high turnout at the polls. The authors contend that this just means that the political parties were successful in getting men to the polls, but that the average citizen considered party politics as dirty and beneath the genteel citizen. The book provides a good examination of popular literature, both magazines and novels, and how it reflected the opinion of politics. Unfortunately, the authors' prose is dense and hard to follow; descriptions of historical facts are often interrupted for opinions; and the historical perspective veers too far into the sociological realm without seeming to make a point.