{"product_id":"the-birth-of-empire-dewitt-clinton-and-the-american-experience-17691828","title":"The Birth of Empire: DeWitt Clinton and the American Experience  1769-1828","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeWitt Clinton (1769-1828) dominated the politics of New York State during the first quarter of the nineteenth century  serving as mayor of New York City and then governor of the state. At the same time  he was influential on the national scene  running for president in 1812 and only narrowly losing to James Madison. Although patrician in his sentiments  Clinton nevertheless developed new forms of party politics  including the spoils system. He was an early champion of the nomination of candidates by convention rather than legislative caucus  and as a United States Senator contributed the draft language for the Twelfth Amendment  which embedded party politics in the fabric of the Constitution.  Clintons greatest achievement was the Erie Canal  the establishment and implementation of which he championed as early as 1810. Construction of the canal began in 1817  and even before it was completed  eight years later  it had brought profound changes--economic  cultural  and social--to the state and the nation. As Evan Cornog illustrates in his detailed and compelling narrative  the Erie Canal hastened the economic expansion of the country  altered its political geography  set an example for activist government  and decisively secured New York Citys position as Americas foremost metropolis. It was a project unlike anything the Empire State--or the United States--had seen before  and was only the most successful of Clintons many efforts to implement his view that government should play an active role in the economic and intellectual development of American society.  The Birth of Empire chronicles not only the life of an important political leader but the accomplishments that underlay his success. As mayor of New York City  for example  Clinton was instrumental in the founding of the public-school system. He sponsored countless measures to promote cultural enrichment as well as educational opportunities for New Yorkers  and helped to establish and lead such institutions as the New-York Historical Society  the American Academy of the Arts  and the Literary and Philosophical Society. An amateur scientist of some renown  Clinton also wrote essays on geology  botany  entomology  archaeology  anthropology  and ichthyology.  As shown here  Clintons career was marked by frequent attempts to integrate his cultural and scientific interests into his identity as a politician  thus projecting the image of a man of wide learning and broad vision  a scholar-statesman of the new republic. Ironically  the political innovations which Clinton set in motion--the refinement of patronage and the spoils system  appeals to immigrant voters  and the professionalization of politics--were precisely what led to the extinction of the scholar-statesmans natural habitat. However visionary  the latter-day philosopher-king would eventually have no place in the modern world. DeWitt Clinton was born into the aristocratic culture of the eighteenth century  yet his achievements and ideas crucially influenced (in ways he did not always anticipate) the growth of the mass society of the nineteenth century.  With this book  Cornog engagingly guides readers through the colorful maze of early nineteenth-century New York politics and society  illustrating both the depth of achievement and breadth of influence of one of its most important leaders. Those who wish to understand the development of American politics  the flowering of a distinctly American cultural life  the progress of the market revolution  and the growth of Americas largest city will find many valuable insights in The Birth of Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44958203215925,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195119495","price":74.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195119497.jpg?v=1770368954","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-birth-of-empire-dewitt-clinton-and-the-american-experience-17691828","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}