by Daniel Feller
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Product Description
In The Jacksonian Promise historian Daniel Feller offers a fresh look at the united States in the tumultuous Age of Jackson. Viewing the era through the eyes of people who lived in it, Feller's account captures the optimism and energy that filled America after the War of 1812. His emphasis on America's confidence in the future and faith in improvement challenges historians who depict the Jacksonian temperament in terms of anxiety and foreboding.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A Nice, Quick, Comprehensive Read, 2008-12-05
The Jacksonian Era was a time of energy and exuberance that soared to heights that have remained unparalleled since their collapse into sectional discord after 1840. Today it is all too easy to criticize those years in which America first truly emerged as a nation and formed its unique character. There was the continuing brutality of slavery, the ongoing subjugation of women, and the persistence of intolerance for non-Protestants: issues that, logically speaking, should have been utterly inescapable in the egalitarian ideals of the Revolution. Added to all this came the sudden coercion of Eastern tribes to abandon their ancestral lands, a process that culminated in the infamous Trail of Tears, as well as the distance thundering of an Industrial Revolution that would yoke countless American citizens to an exploitative factory system and the caprices of distant markets.
Daniel Feller, associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico, nevertheless cautions against judging Americans of this period by modern standards: "Where historians once spied the flowering of America's promise, they now see the start of its descent. Calamity looms everywhere: in the ejection of Indians, the subordination of women, . . . " The reality is that every era has its gloom and doom, Feller counters, and none of this "justifies intruding our own doubts and despair upon a people who could not have imagined, much less share, them." The treatment afforded Jacksonian America in his book is therefore "thematic rather than comprehensive"; that is, he chooses to focus on the causes of contemporary events, as opposed to their reverberations down through the decades as components of such anachronistic concepts as "industrialization, modernization, capitalism, and market revolution." Drawing largely on works of present-day scholarship and primary sources accessible as modern editions - but especially on the latter - Feller has constructed a retelling of Jacksonian history through the eyes of the people who lived it.
The Jacksonian Promise begins with a detailed description of the Jubilee. The fiftieth anniversary of American independence, which was technically 1826, was commemorated as nearly two full years of festivity and rejoicing that greeted the Marquis de Lafayette when he arrived in New York in August of 1824. The only surviving Revolutionary general would spend the thirteen months on a tour of the new country that showcased all America now had to offer as an independent and prosperous nation. In other words, the Jubilee was essentially a celebration of America's accomplishments and boundless potential, as well as the chance to exhibit these uniquely American characteristics to both Lafayette and the entire world. And it is that opening scene that sets the tone for the rest of the book. The United States in the Jacksonian Era was young, lively, and brimming with a powerfully millennial sense of liberation and reform. Human and national improvement were inextricably linked, and for many Americans, fully and completely without limit.
The man for whom the era is named, of course, was Andrew Jackson, whose administration began shrouded in mystery. It is questionable if even he knew exactly what he was doing. He did, however, come into office with a strong set of views and opinions. Despite his wealth and urbane manners, Jackson had come from humble cabin stock. He had fought brawls, duels, and wars, had never been abroad, and spoke only English. The deal brokered between Henry Clay and John Adams that had secured Adams the 1824 election (in exchange for Clay's support of Adams' treasured American System) left Jackson with the conviction that a shadowy league of "aristocrats" was conspiring against him. He appropriately despised anything that struck him as unduly elitist or patronizing to the common man, particularly those affluent Protestant evangelizers telling other Americans how to live their lives.
Jackson's ardent faith in the common folk sadly did not extend to Native Americans (or, as a slaveholder, to African-Americans). He had clashed with the evangelizing reformers over many issues, but his Indians policies drew him the most intense criticism from religious circles. Despite his rejection of the American System, Jackson maintained his faith in the exorable march of American progress and the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws - the last of the large landholding tribes east of the Mississippi - only stood in the way and endangered themselves in the process. To Jackson, the Indians were children who needed the governance and guidance of a stern but kindly father, who was only acting for their own good by generously giving them new land beyond the reach of civilization where they could work to acquire its skills and arts while avoiding the tragic fate of those other tribes who had tried too hard to confront it. It was Jackson's version of tough love.
Protestant reformers, including the Tappan brothers and prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, vigorously fought the federal government's abuse of the Indians, revealing divisions within Jackson's own society. Even deeper ruptures in American religion, politics, and culture were slowly making themselves known by the end of his presidency. Following his retirement in 1837, myriad Jackson opponents coalesced into the Whigs, a party in direct opposition to Jackson's Democrats. Meanwhile, the depression of 1840, the worst yet to hit the United States, forced a reevaluation of America and its character and promise, leaving many to conclude that perhaps they had overstated their country's exemption from the follies and troubles of the Old World. Voluntary societies folded and the eagerness to experiment dissipated. Above all this loomed the issue of slavery, made all the more pressing in the wake of Nat Turner's revolt. The South solidified its position, even becoming downright reactionary and praising those systems of hierarchy and social stasis that America had always condemned in Europe. With civil war on the horizon, the early giddy freedom of a young United States was gone, perhaps forever.
Feller's The Jacksonian Promise is a neat little book that succinctly summarizes the personality and events of a culture that flourished briefly before falling into sectional strife, warfare, and, finally, large-scale industrialization. My only complaint is that he spent comparatively little time on African-Americans other than to discuss early schemes for African colonization and the controversies over slavery. In his rush to celebrate the zing and zip of Jackson's era he seems to have somewhat neglected its more unsavory aspects. The Jacksonian Promise is nevertheless an excellent choice for an undergraduate course, as well as the casual aficionado of history, due to its engaging readability and short length.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 jacksonian promise, 2007-01-26
great service, arrived in time for class , even on relatively short notice
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent, 2004-11-10
This is an excellent overview of US political and to some extent social history from 1815-1840, in readable, jargon free prose.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent introduction to Jacksonian America, 2004-10-08
Feller's book, THE JACKSONIAN PROMISE, is an excellent introduction to the major themes and topics that have captivated American political and social historians concerning the years 1815-40. The book attempts to move away from some of the more negative or pessimistic claims concerning the period. Instead, while acknowledging the proliferation of party sectionalism, the emergence of distinct gender roles, and the proliferation of slavery, Feller's basic claim is that experimentation and innovation characterized this period in American History. Notably, this period of history was characterized by extreme optimism in the popular imagination about America's potential. In 'getting at' that claim Feller looks at innovation and optimism in terms of economics, industrial and technological advances, religious experimentation, scientific inquiry, labor reform, and political innovation. Feller, moreover, traces how this shared sense of optimism eventually fractured into various opposing views.
All in all, Feller's book is concisely written, well organized, and suprisingly sophisticated for a book of its small girth. This is partially because of Feller's own interest in the historiography of this period. It's among the best surveys of the Jacksonian period in publication. If its not the best, its, at the very least, certainly the most accessible.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
The Jacksonian Period introducing the themes, 2002-11-23
The Jacksonian Promise: America 1815-1840 covers everything: optimism with the Erie Canal, the technology improvements, the commerce, the enlightenment, religious developments, and modern politics. It is best defined as in-between textbook that does not follow everything in the Antebellum America, but enough that it's a good book to fall back onto. The book was a required reading for my History 414 (Antebellum United States: 1800-1860). I enjoyed reading the book, but at times I skipped pages to keep up. I suggest reading chapters nine and ten. What would you read in the Jacksonian Promise? For example in Chapter 10: Descents into Discord, it covers the Democrats and Whigs, party politics, the reassessment of character, the constriction of choices, slavery and sectional cleavage, and toward Civil War. Keller's writing is smooth and the themes are well organized. If you are looking for a book on the Jacksonian era that is a cheap and well worth the price this is the book for you. I am giving it four stars because it's well organized that you can be half asleep and copy down some good notes, the price, and sometimes it is very interesting to read. A reminder the book is actually only 204 pages because the rest are the bibliography and index.
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