Taming Democracy "The People," the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution

by Bouton, Terry

• ISBN13: 9780195378566
• ISBN10: 0195378563
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780199885619
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details
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Summary

Americans see the Founding Fathers as selfless patriots who fought British tyranny and brought democracy to the land. But in this award-winning book, Terry Bouton reveals that as the War for Independence ended, the Revolutionary elite began to abandon democratic ideas to embrace instead a newvision where government worked to transfer wealth to "moneyed men." Centering on Pennsylvania, the symbolic center of democracy's rise, Bouton shows intimately how the war and the events that followed (such as the misnamed Whiskey Rebellion) affected the majority of "the people," introducing us tothe Revolution's unsung heroes--farmers, weavers, and tailors who risked their lives to create democracy and then to defend it against what they called the forces of "united avarice." We also get a starkly new look some familiar characters from the Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin, AlexanderHamilton, Robert Morris, and George Washington, men who Bouton portrays as real, flawed people, blinded by their own sense of entitlement.

Author Biography

Terry Bouton is Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 3
The Rise Of Democracy (1763-1776)
Oppression The Origins Of The American Revolution	p. 13
The Vision of '76 Popular Ideology And The Revolution	p. 31
Confronting The Counter-Revolution (1776-1787)
The Gospel of Moneyed Men The Gentry's New Ideals	p. 61
The Sheriff's Wagon The Crisis Of The 1780s	p. 88
Equal Power "The People" Attempt To Reclaim The Revolution	p. 105
The Problem with Politics Why Reform Fell Short	p. 125
Rings of Protection Popular Resistance During The 1780s	p. 145
Taming Democracy (1787-1799)
"A Stronger Barrier against Democracy" The Struggle Over Constitutions	p. 171
Roads Closed Desperate Opposition to The New Order	p. 197
The Pennsylvania Regulation of 1794 A Rebellion Over Whiskey?	p. 216
The Pennsylvania Regulation of 1799 John Fries's Rebellion?	p. 244
Conclusion	p. 257
Notes	p. 266
Index	p. 317
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