Union and Democracy

The title of this volume must be regarded as suggestive rather than as strictly accurate, for the beginnings of union are to be found farther back than 1783, and democracy in its largest sense has even yet been only imperfectly realized. At the close of the Revolution, union was but a name. What Metternich said of the Italy of his day might have been said of the United States in 1783: it was only a geographical expression. The formation of the new federal union under the Constitution is properly the main, though not the sole, theme of this volume. Behind the thirteen Atlantic communities lay a vast region which almost at once invited the colonizing activities of the people. The rise of this western world is a movement of immense significance. Out of the bosom of the West emerged the new democracy which transformed the face of society in the old States. Whether viewed economically or politically, this forms the second theme in any history of the times. Around these two movements, therefore, I have endeavored to group the events of forty-five years.

Within the last few years special studies have added much to the common stock of historical information, and in many ways effected changes in the historian's point of view. The time seemed proper to restate the salient factors in the history of this formative period. I have frankly appropriated the labors of others. Had the plan of the series permitted the use of footnotes, I would gladly have made particular acknowledgment of my indebtedness. At the same time I have not hesitated to present the results of my own studies where they have led away from the conventional view of men and events.

In preparation of the maps showing the popular vote in the elections of 1800 and 1824, I have drawn largely upon the data which Dr. Charles O. Paullin, of the Carnegie Institution, has generously put at my disposal. In States where the presidential electors were not chosen directly by the voters, other votes, such as those for governor, have been made the basis for determining the popular choice among party candidates for the presidency. Two of my graduate students, Miss Isabel S. Mitchell and Mr. Joseph E. Howe, have given me valuable assistance in the execution of the maps. I am under particular obligation to my colleague, Professor Stewart L. Mims, for reading critically both manuscript and proof.

Allen Johnson.

CONTENTS

I. The Ordeal of the Confederation 1

II. The Making of the Constitution 25

III. The Restoration of Public Credit 46

IV. The Testing of the New Government 68

V. Anglomen and Jacobins 89

VI. The Revolution of 1800 105

VII. Jeffersonian Reforms 123

VIII. The Purchase of the Province of Louisiana 143

IX. Faction and Conspiracy 161

X. Peaceable Coercion 179

XI. The Approach of War 197

XII. The War of 1812 212

XIII. The Results of the War 231

XIV. The Westward Movement 245

XV. Hard Times 266

XVI. The National Awakening 282

XVII. The New Democracy 298

XVIII. Politics and State Rights 318

XIX. The Rise of National Sovereignty 331

Index i

MAPS AND CHARTS

The United States in 1783 facing 1

State-making in the West, 1783-87 9

Distribution of Votes in Ratification of The Constitution: The New England States 37 The Middle States 39 The Southern States 42

Distribution of Population, 1790 49

Vote on Assumption 59

The Northwest, 1785-95 71

Vote on the Repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts, February 25, 1799 between 112 and 113

Presidential Election of 1800 between 116 and 117

Distribution of Population, 1800 125