Affairs of Honor
eBook - PDF

Affairs of Honor

National Politics in the New Republic

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Affairs of Honor

National Politics in the New Republic

About this book

In this extraordinary book, Joanne Freeman offers a major reassessment of political culture in the early years of the American republic. By exploring both the public actions and private papers of key figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, Freeman reveals an alien and profoundly unstable political world grounded on the code of honor. In the absence of a party system and with few examples to guide America’s experiment in republican governance, the rituals and rhetoric of honor provided ground rules for political combat. Gossip, print warfare, and dueling were tools used to jostle for status and form alliances in an otherwise unstructured political realm. These political weapons were all deployed in the tumultuous presidential election of 1800—an event that nearly toppled the new republic.

By illuminating this culture of honor, Freeman offers new understandings of some of the most perplexing events of early American history, including the notorious duel between Burr and Hamilton. A major reconsideration of early American politics, Affairs of Honor offers a profoundly human look at the anxieties and political realities of leaders struggling to define themselves and their role in the new nation.

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Yes, you can access Affairs of Honor by Joanne B. Freeman in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & World History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Yale University Press
Year
2008
eBook ISBN
9780300137798
Edition
1
Topic
History
Subtopic
World History
Index
History
The
Theater
of
National
Politics
Few
national
politicians
were
as
anxious
as
Pennsylvania’s
Senator
Wil-
liam
Maclay—or
at
least,
few
were
as
diligent
about
documenting
it.
For
throughout
the
entirety
of
his
two-year
term
of
office,
Maclay
memorialized
his
anxieties
on
the
pages
of
his
diary
in
lavish
detail.
Judging
from
his
entries,
Maclay’s
fears
were
legion.
He
worried
about
his
oratorical
performances
on
the
Senate
floor.
He
worried
about
the
counterthrusts
and
jabs
of
his
peers.
He
worried
about
his
comport-
ment
at
social
events,
particularly
in
the
presence
of
the
great
George
Washington.
He
worried
about
Washington
himself,
fearful
that
the
new
president
would
allow
corrupt
friends
and
advisers
to
surround
him
with
monarchical
pomp
and
splendor.
He
worried
about
the
polit-
ical
implications
of
almost
everything;
French
lace,
fancy
carriages,
and
formal
ceremonies
all
reeked
of
monarchical
corruption,
threatening
the
foundations
of
the
new
republic.
Keenly
observant,
and
anxious
about
almost
everything
he
saw,
Maclay
suffered
his
way
through
his
brief
senatorial
career
(fig.
2).
It
was
not
that
he
was
unqualified
for
office.
Like
most
of
his
colleagues,
he
had
a
long
record
of
public
service
in
his
home
state.
{
11
}

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Introduction
  4. Prologue: Walking on Untrodden Ground
  5. 1. The Theater of National Politics
  6. 2. Slander, Poison, Whispers, and Fame: The Art of Political Gossip
  7. 3. The Art of Paper War
  8. 4. Dueling as Politics
  9. 5. An Honor Dispute of Grand Proportions: The Presidential Election of 1800
  10. Epilogue Constructing American History
  11. A Note on Method
  12. Notes
  13. Bibliography
  14. Index