{"product_id":"crucible-of-american-democracy-the-struggle-to-fuse-egalitarianism-and-capitalism-in-jeffersonian-pennsylvania-american-political-thought-9780700613045","title":"Crucible of American Democracy: The Struggle to Fuse Egalitarianism and Capitalism in Jeffersonian Pennsylvania (American Political Thought)","description":"\u003cp\u003eArguments over what democracy actually meant in practice and how it should be implemented raged throughout the early American republic. As Andrew Shankman shows  nowhere were those ideas more intensely contested or more representative of the national debate than in Pennsylvania  where the states Jeffersonians dominated the day.  Pennsylvania Jeffersonians were the first American citizens to attempt to translate idealized speculations about democracy into a workable system of politics and governance. In doing so  they revealed key assumptions that united other national citizens regarding democracy and the conditions necessary for its survival. In particular  they assumed that democracy required economic autonomy and a strong measure of economic as well as political equality among citizens. This strong egalitarian theme was  however  challenged by Pennsylvanias precociously capitalistic economy and the nations dynamic economic development in general  forcing the Jeffersonians to confront the reality that economic and social equality would have to take a back seat to free market forces.  Seeking democracy became a debate about the desirability of capitalism and the precise relations between majority rule and the pursuit and protection of individual rights and interests. From this struggle to fuse egalitarianism and free enterprise in Pennsylvania emerged most subsequent mainstream beliefs concerning the respective roles of democracy and capitalism in American society. In fact  it did much to shape the boundaries of permissible thought in the Jacksonian era concerning political economy and the extent of popular democratic power.  Shankmans illuminating exploration of the Pennsylvania experience reveals how democracy arose in America  how it came to accommodate capitalism  and at the same time forced egalitarian assumptions and dreams to the margins of society. A resonant work of intellectual and political history  his study also mirrors the aspirations  fears  hatreds  dreams  generous impulses  noble strivings  selfish cant  and enormous capacity to imagine of those who first tried to translate the blueprint for democracy into a tested foundation for the nations future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646942502965,"sku":"ByrdShop_0700613048","price":33.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780700613045.jpg?v=1781682639","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/crucible-of-american-democracy-the-struggle-to-fuse-egalitarianism-and-capitalism-in-jeffersonian-pennsylvania-american-political-thought-9780700613045","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}