Federalists Reconsidered

by Doron S. Ben-Atar (Editor), Barbara B. Oberg (Editor)

These essays demonstrate that American political culture was fashioned in a dialogue between Federalists and Jeffersonians. They portray an active Federalist coalition that offered a vibrant intellectual and political alternative throughout the era of the early republic. Cutting across boundaries of region, culture, race, gender, and class, Federalists struggled with the problems of nation building, national identity, and economic development.

Genres: History

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 1999

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Roman emperors had a habit of issuing damnatio memoriae - erasing their predecessors from public memory. The complete collapse of the Federalist Party and the early death of Hamilton gave the Jeffersonian Republicans the opportunity to subsume the economic (and some social) aspects of the Federalists and then re-write the history of the Federalist Party. This is a strong first step in righting a lot of misconceptions introduced by Jefferson and his followers.