The First Presidential Contest

1796 and the Founding of American Democracy

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
Cover of the book The First Presidential Contest by Jeffrey L. Pasley, University Press of Kansas
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jeffrey L. Pasley ISBN: 9780700623167
Publisher: University Press of Kansas Publication: December 4, 2016
Imprint: University Press of Kansas Language: English
Author: Jeffrey L. Pasley
ISBN: 9780700623167
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication: December 4, 2016
Imprint: University Press of Kansas
Language: English

This is the first study in half a century to focus on the election of 1796. At first glance, the first presidential contest looks unfamiliar—parties were frowned upon, there was no national vote, and the candidates did not even participate (the political mores of the day forbade it). Yet for all that, Jeffrey L. Pasley contends, the election of 1796 was "absolutely seminal," setting the stage for all of American politics to follow.

Challenging much of the conventional understanding of this election, Pasley argues that Federalist and Democratic-Republican were deeply meaningful categories for politicians and citizens of the 1790s, even if the names could be inconsistent and the institutional presence lacking. He treats the 1796 election as a rough draft of the democratic presidential campaigns that came later rather than as the personal squabble depicted by other historians. It set the geographic pattern of New England competing with the South at the two extremes of American politics, and it established the basic ideological dynamic of a liberal, rights-spreading American left arrayed against a conservative, society-protecting right, each with its own competing model of leadership.

Rather than the inner thoughts and personal lives of the Founders, covered in so many other volumes, Pasley focuses on images of Adams and Jefferson created by supporters-and detractors-through the press, capturing the way that ordinary citizens in 1796 would have actually experienced candidates they never heard speak. Newspaper editors, minor officials, now forgotten congressman, and individual elector candidates all take a leading role in the story to show how politics of the day actually worked.

Pasley's cogent study rescues the election of 1796 from the shadow of 1800 and invites us to rethink how we view that campaign and the origins of American politics.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This is the first study in half a century to focus on the election of 1796. At first glance, the first presidential contest looks unfamiliar—parties were frowned upon, there was no national vote, and the candidates did not even participate (the political mores of the day forbade it). Yet for all that, Jeffrey L. Pasley contends, the election of 1796 was "absolutely seminal," setting the stage for all of American politics to follow.

Challenging much of the conventional understanding of this election, Pasley argues that Federalist and Democratic-Republican were deeply meaningful categories for politicians and citizens of the 1790s, even if the names could be inconsistent and the institutional presence lacking. He treats the 1796 election as a rough draft of the democratic presidential campaigns that came later rather than as the personal squabble depicted by other historians. It set the geographic pattern of New England competing with the South at the two extremes of American politics, and it established the basic ideological dynamic of a liberal, rights-spreading American left arrayed against a conservative, society-protecting right, each with its own competing model of leadership.

Rather than the inner thoughts and personal lives of the Founders, covered in so many other volumes, Pasley focuses on images of Adams and Jefferson created by supporters-and detractors-through the press, capturing the way that ordinary citizens in 1796 would have actually experienced candidates they never heard speak. Newspaper editors, minor officials, now forgotten congressman, and individual elector candidates all take a leading role in the story to show how politics of the day actually worked.

Pasley's cogent study rescues the election of 1796 from the shadow of 1800 and invites us to rethink how we view that campaign and the origins of American politics.

More books from University Press of Kansas

Cover of the book Stalin's World War II Evacuations by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Nixon's Nuclear Specter by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book The Fourth Amendment in Flux by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Parchment Barriers by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Enduring Battle by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Trails by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Lincoln and Shakespeare by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Father, Son, and Constitution by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Modernity and the Great Depression by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book The White House Vice Presidency by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Bully Nation by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Lee Harvey Oswald as I Knew Him by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Going to the Dogs by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book Clash of Empires in South China by Jeffrey L. Pasley
Cover of the book A Third Term for FDR by Jeffrey L. Pasley
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy