{"product_id":"the-age-of-federalism-the-early-american-republic-1788-1800-9780195068900","title":"The Age of Federalism - The Early American Republic  1788 - 1800","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office for the presidency in 1801  America had just passed through twelve critical years  years dominated by some of the towering figures of our history and by the challenge of having to do everything for the first time. Washington  Hamilton  Madison  Adams  and Jefferson himself each had a share in shaping that remarkable era--an era that is brilliantly captured in The Age of Federalism. Written by esteemed historians Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick  The Age of Federalism gives us a reflective  deeply informed analytical survey of this extraordinary period. Ranging over the widest variety of concerns--political  cultural  economic  diplomatic  and military--the authors provide a sweeping historical account  keeping always in view not only the problems the new nation faced but also the particular individuals who tried to solve them. As they move through the Federalist era  they draw subtly perceptive character sketches not only of the great figures--Washington and Jefferson  Talleyrand and Napoleon Bonaparte--but also of lesser ones  such as George Hammond  Britains frustrated minister to the United States  James McHenry  Adamss hapless Secretary of War  the pre-Chief Justice version of John Marshall  and others. They weave these lively profiles into an analysis of the central controversies of the day  turning such intricate issues as the public debt into fascinating depictions of opposing political strategies and contending economic philosophies. Each dispute bears in some way on the broader story of the emerging nation. The authors show  for instance  the consequences the fight over Hamiltons financial system had for the locating of the nations permanent capital  and how it widened an ideological gulf between Hamilton and the Virginians  Madison and Jefferson  that became unbridgeable. The statesmen of the founding generation  the authors believe  did \"a surprising number of things right.\" But Elkins and McKitrick also describe some things that went resoundingly wrong: the hopelessly underfinanced effort to construct a capital city on the Potomac (New York  they argue  would have been a far more logical choice than Washington)  and prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts which turned into a comic nightmare. No detail is left out  or left uninteresting  as their account continues through the Adams presidency  the XYZ affair  the naval Quasi-War with France  and the desperate Federalist maneuvers in 1800  first to prevent the reelection of Adams and then to nullify the election of Jefferson. The Age of Federalism is the fruit of many years of discussion and thought  in which deep scholarship is matched only by the lucid distinction of its prose. With it  Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick have produced the definitive study  long awaited by historians  of the early national era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647597109301,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195068904","price":23.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195068900.jpg?v=1781695090","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-age-of-federalism-the-early-american-republic-1788-1800-9780195068900","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}