Affairs of party: The political culture of Northern Democrats in the mid-nineteenth century

by Jean H. Baker

Affairs of party, Jean Baker asserts, were a central feature of public life in nineteenth-century America. In this book she explores the way in which the Northern Democrats of the mid-eighteen hundreds lived their public lives. She begins with a psychobiographical explanation of how people became Democrats, weighing the importance of such influences as education and family life. She then discusses two major elements that set Democrats apart from members of other political a modified Republican ideology tailored to the circumstances of the Civil War, and a mordant racism conveyed most strikingly through minstrelsy. Finally, Baker studies the neglected subject of partisan behavior, concentrating on the significance of parades, voting, and other rituals. In Affairs of Party Jean Baker brings together the three basic components of a political culture―education, thought, and behavior―and provides an understanding of the collective values of Northern Democrats and an insight into the elusive meaning of party experience. In her new preface, Professor Baker places her book in the context of both recent scholarship and recent political and cultural developments.

Genres: History, Civil War

368 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1983

About the author

Jean H. Baker is a professor of history at Goucher College. A graduate of Goucher College, she earned her doctorate at Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written history of political socialization in the Jacksonian era. Baker argues that personal identification with a political party was at the heart of the Second Party System. Thus, it is imperative to understand the processes by which men came to self-identify as Democrats. The text is organized into "learning," "thinking," and "behaving" as a Democrat. Baker analyzes textbooks and popular culture in addition to "high" political culture like legal decisions or pamphlets.

Although Baker's text does require some background knowledge, it is an accessible text that adds nuance to typical accounts of the Northern Democrats.