The origins of liberal capitalism have generated a great deal of controversy among historians. Some historians have suggested that many farmers, especially in New England, were still pre-modern in their outlook, interested far more in patrimony and kin than in capitalistic aggrandizement. See James A. Henretta, The Origins of American Capitalism: Selected Essays (1991); Allan Kukikoff, The Agrarian Origins of American Capitalism (1992); and Christopher Clark, The Roots of Rural Capitalism: Western Massachusetts, 1780–1860 (1990). Winifred Barr Rothenberg, From Market-Places to a Market Economy: The Transformation of Rural Massachusetts, 1750–1850 (1992) sought to clear the “transition to capitalism” debate of a lot of theoretical cant by asking some basic questions about the rural New England economy that could be empirically verified.
Joyce Appleby, Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans (2000) and Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1992), using other evidence, endorse Rothenberg’s view that rural capitalism arose at the end of the eighteenth century. Appleby, in particular, nicely captures the early nineteenth-century culture out of which the myth of the self-made man arose. On capitalism, see also Paul A. Gilje, ed., Wages of Independence: Capitalism in the Early American Republic (1997). Of the many works on artisans, see Howard B. Rock, Artisans of the New Republic: The Tradesmen of New York City in the Age of Jefferson (1978); Bruce Laurie, Working People of Philadelphia, 1800–1850 (1980); Ronald Schultz, The Republic of Labor: Philadelphia Artisans and the Politics of Class, 1720–1830 (1993); Charles G. Steffen, The Mechanics of Baltimore: Workers and Politics in the Age of Revolution, 1763–1812 (1984); and Rosalind Remer, Printers and Men of Capital: Philadelphia Book Publishers in the New Republic (1996). Stuart M. Blumin, The Emergence of the Middle Class: Social Experience in the American City, 1760–1900 (1989) is the best study of the development of the middle class out of an eighteenth-century society divided between a gentry elite and commoners.
On debt and bankruptcy, see Peter J. Coleman, Debtors and Creditors in America: Insolvency, Imprisonment for Debt and Bankruptcy, 1607–1900 (1974); Scott A. Sandage, Born Losers: A History of Failure in America (2005); and Bruce H. Mann, Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of the American Independence (2002).
Susan Dunn, Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison and the Decline of Virginia (2007) is the best book on the decay of the once most powerful state in the Union.
Index
abolitionism, 143, 518–19, 541
Act of Settlement, 400
“actual malice” standard, 257n45
Adair, John, 384
Adams, Abigail, 249, 496, 549
Adams, Henry, 315n1, 440
Adams, John: and the Alien Friends Act, 261
and aristocratic ceremony, 81–82
and the arts, 549
and banking, 99
and the Barbary Wars, 635
and the Bill of Rights, 70
and Burr, 279, 385n63
and class divisions, 22–24, 223, 226, 234
on common language, 48, 49
and conspiracy theories, 245
and “Discourses on Davila,” 146, 151
and domestic insurrection, 265n64
and elections, 210, 212, 278
and family structure, 495
and the federal judiciary, 401, 403, 419
and the First Congress, 63–64
and the French Revolution, 185
and the Great Seal, 554–55
and Hamilton, 274–75
and honor codes, 236
inauguration of, 238, 288
and individual rights, 19
and international commerce, 190–92
and Jefferson, 277
and Madison, 699
and market competition, 325
and Marshall, 435
and military power, 240, 264, 266–67
and monarchism, 82–84
and nationalism, 43
and newspapers, 256
and North-South tensions, 146
and peace efforts with France, 272–75
and presidential powers, 88–89
and public education, 477
and religion, 577
and the sciences, 544, 724
and sectional conflict, 165–66
and Sedition Acts, 257
on settlement of America, 37
and slavery, 525, 527, 537
and social changes, 340–41
and structure of government, 212–13
and Washington, 75, 78, 81–82, 157–58, 565
and western settlement, 546n10
and the XYZ Affair, 242, 244
Adams, John Quincy: and the Barbary Wars, 697
and Chase impeachment, 424
and French influence, 239
and impressment, 641
on Jefferson and Madison, 147
and patronage, 300
and suffrage expansions, 305
and trade disputes, 667
and the War of 1812, 695
Adams, Samuel, 51, 212, 561, 562, 577
Addison, Alexander, 427
Addison, Joseph, 304, 550
Adventists, 617
adversarial justice, 447–48
advice and consent powers, 88–89
advisory opinions, 454
Africa, 39, 540. See also slavery
African Americans, 337
African culture, 600
African Methodist Episcopal Church, 599
Age of Reason (Paine), 199–200, 589
agrarian laws, 8
agriculture: and American exceptionalism, 45
and the American labor force, 706
and industrial development, 100–101
and international commerce, 626, 627–28
and market economics, 322–24, 325–26
and Native Americans, 124, 397–98
and overseas commerce, 625–26
and political parties, 168n72
and population growth, 318
and public education, 474
and sea island planters, 527
and sectional conflict, 164–65
and slavery, 509–11, 527–29, 734–35
and territorial expansion, 367–68
and western settlement, 359, 361
Alabama, 530
alcohol, 344, 398, 597. See also temperance movements
Alcuin: A Dialogue (Brown), 507
Algiers, 634–36, 638, 696–97
Alien Act: and constitutional issues, 145
enforcement of, 260, 262
and the Federalist Party, 247–50, 268
and judicial review, 433
and Marshall, 433, 435
and nullification, 269–71
and partisanship, 268, 269
and sectional conflict, 267
Alien Enemies Act, 249
Alien Friends Act, 249–50, 260–62
Allen, Ethan, 227, 579
Allen, Levi, 112
Allen, Richard, 599, 600
Allston, Washington, 574–75
amendments. See Bill of Rights (U.S.); specific amendments
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 477, 722–23, 735
American Academy of Fine Arts, 567, 568
American Antiquarian Society, 477
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 491
American Catholic Church, 592
American Colonization Society, 541
American exceptionalism, 44, 50, 544
American Geography (Morse), 244, 328, 387–88
American Ornithology (Wilson), 393
American Philosophical Society, 143, 186, 332, 394, 477, 544, 735
American Revolution: and Adams, 82
and class divisions, 38
and Congress, 142
and cultural influence, 544, 552–53, 554, 557–58, 560, 570
debt from, 95–97, 150, 154
and democratization of politics, 712
and education, 47<
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and the Enlightenment, 4, 37
and family structure, 495, 500
and freemasonry, 51
and the French Revolution, 174
and Hamilton, 90
and the Invalid Pension Act, 453
and Jefferson, 287
and lawyers, 402–3
and legal reforms, 406
and Marshall, 434
and presidential power, 85
and religion, 578, 581, 585, 605–6
and republicanism, 6–7
and slavery, 540–41
and social structure, 2, 3, 30–31, 341
and state legislatures, 16–17
and trade policy, 189
Ames, Fisher: and banking, 293–94
and class divisions, 35
and cultural issues, 373
and decline of the Federalists, 305
and Democratic-Republican Societies, 203
and excessive democracy, 303
and the federal judiciary, 418
and the First Congress, 60–61
and free commerce, 194
and immigration, 39
and international commerce, 199
and the Louisiana Purchase, 369
and military power, 266
and partisanship, 308, 333
and political gossip, 159
and the Sedition Act, 261
and suffrage expansions, 305
and western settlement, 358
and the XYZ Affair, 243
Ames, Nathaniel, 333
anarchy, 176
Anderson, Eliza, 571–72
Andover Theological Seminary, 603–4, 615
Anglican Church, 576, 578, 580, 585, 613
Anglicans, 337
Annals of Congress, 60
Annapolis Convention, 90
anthropology, 540
Anti-Federalists: and the Bill of Rights, 66–67, 71
and class divisions, 35
and excise taxes, 135
and executive power, 72–73
and the federal judiciary, 409
and Findley, 220
and Freneau, 151
and Madison, 140
and monarchical republicanism, 53–54
and patronage, 108
and political campaigning, 62
and ratification of the Constitution, 35–36
appellate courts, 411
Appleby, Joyce, 732–33
appointment powers. See also patronage: and executive power, 86–87
and federal positions, 107–10, 110n33, 111
and Jefferson, 292, 299
and the judiciary, 400–401, 408, 411
and Marshall, 435
and military power, 266–67
and removal powers, 88
apprenticeship, 348
architecture, 548
aristocracy. See also class divisions and conflict: and Adams, 23, 214, 215
and the arts, 548
and Burr, 281
and class divisions, 35–36, 235–38
and the Constitution, 34
and democracy, 718
and electoral representation, 530
and the Federalist Party, 313, 708–9
and honor codes, 717
and inheritance law, 498
and Jefferson, 279
and labor, 353
and monarchism, 74, 77, 78–79
and popular sovereignty, 451
and religion, 580, 607
and slavery, 527
and social equality, 349
Aristotle, 21–22
Arkansas River, 382
Arminianism, 604, 608
arms, rights to bear, 70, 475
Armstrong, John, 683, 691–92
Arnold, Benedict, 555–56
Arnold, Stephen, 341
Article I of the Constitution, 456, 465
Article III of the Constitution, 55, 408–9
Article V of the Constitution, 250
Articles of Confederation, 7, 11, 15–16, 31–33, 47, 287
artisans, 348–49, 350
arts: and British influence, 559–60
and cultural advancement, 544–45, 545–47, 547–52
and the Great Seal, 554–55
literature, 565–67, 569–70
painting, 552–54, 563–65, 568–69, 571–72, 723
and Peale, 555–57
poetry, 548
and the public good, 567–75
and republicanism, 557–59
theater, 570–71
and western settlement, 546n10
Asbury, Francis, 599, 601
Asia, 623
assembly rights, 70
Astor, John Jacob, 381–82, 623
Astoria, 382
attorney general’s office, 86
Aurora: on Jefferson’s election, 285
on patronage, 299
and public opinion, 253, 308
on republican reforms, 426–28
and sedition laws, 259, 261
on ship seizures, 641
Austin, Benjamin, 334, 403
Austria, 403, 621
authoritarianism, 549. See also monarchical power
Autobiography (Franklin), 27, 499, 713, 714
Averell, William Holt, 320
Bache, Benjamin Franklin, 200, 253, 255, 259
Backus, Isaac, 588–89
Bainbridge, William, 682
Ballard, Martha, 342
Ballou, Hosea, 608–9
Baltimore, Maryland, 104, 336–38, 355, 683, 691, 706
Bancroft, George, 575
Bank of England, 93, 98, 241
Bank of North America, 98, 143, 219, 221, 296
Bank of the United States (BUS), 98–99, 143–44, 145, 293–96, 673
banking: and civil society, 488
and corporate charters, 462
and Findley, 218–22
and Hamilton, 98–99
and Jefferson presidency, 293–98
and the War of 1812, 692
bankruptcy laws, 416, 416n44
Baptists: and class divisions, 613
and clergy, 596
and freed blacks, 521
and growth of congregations, 581–82, 597–98, 604–6
and millennial beliefs, 617
and the Republican Party, 167, 244, 594
and revivalism, 605
and separation of church and state, 587–88
and slavery, 536, 538, 599–600
Barbary States, 696–700
Barbary Wars, 633–39, 638
Bardstown, Kentucky, 593
Barlow, Joel: and American culture, 545, 554
and the arts, 552
and citizenship, 50
and the Declaration of Independence, 641
Fourth of July oration, 469
and the French Revolution, 256
and Fulton, 631
and land speculation, 120
on social equality, 35
and Volney, 552
Barnum, P. T., 725
Barralet, John James, 567
Barron v. City of Baltimore, 70n56
Batavian Republic, 240
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 375
Battle of Austerlitz, 621–22
Battle of Derne, 638
Battle of Fallen Timbers, 362
Battle of New Orleans, 4, 695–96
Battle of Queenston Heights, 680
Battle of the Nile, 271
Battle of the Thames, 686
Battle of Tippecanoe, 676
Battle of Trafalgar, 621, 645–46
Battle of Yorktown, 90
Bavaria, 403
Bavarian Illuminati, 244–45, 722
Bayard, James A., 305, 416, 695
Bayard, Samuel, 285
Beccaria, Cesare, 404–5, 492
Beck, George, 571
Beckley, John, 237
Beckwith, George, 204
Bee, Isaac, 521
Beecher, Lyman, 487, 613
 
; Belgium, 246, 621
Belknap, Jeremy, 475, 477, 544, 557
Bellamy, Joseph, 616
Belshazzar’s Feast (Coleridge), 574
benevolence: and Adams, 214
and civil society, 203, 495
and egalitarianism, 580
and Enlightenment principles, 11
and the Federalist Party, 306
and Freemasonry, 52
and gender equity, 502–3
and Hamilton, 302
and ratification of the Constitution, 38
and religion, 613–14
and republicanism, 485–91
and sociability, 13
and utopianism, 632
Benjamin, 202
Bentley, William, 333, 581, 655, 731–32
Berkeley, George, 546
Berlin Decree, 646
biblical literalism, 611–12, 616–17
bicameral legislatures, 214, 216–18
Biddle, Nicholas, 381
Bigelow, Jacob, 729–30
Bill No. 2, 665–66
Bill of Rights (English), 66
Bill of Rights (U.S.), 65–72, 70n56, 258, 409, 446, 493, 662.See also specific amendments
Bingham, William, 118, 628–29
Binns, John, 427
Birch, William Russell, 559, 572
Birkbeck, Morris, 358, 710–11
Bitterroot Mountains, 380
black codes, 521, 538
Blackfoot Indians, 380
Blackstone, William, 222, 404, 406, 434, 448, 449
Blanchard, Thomas, 728, 729
Bland, Theodorick, 87
blasphemy, 591
blockades, 622, 637, 646, 661, 688
Blodgett, Samuel, 730
Bloomfield, Robert, 574
Blount, William, 133
“Blue Light” Federalists, 693
Blumin, Stuart M., 350
boardinghouses, 347
Boileau, Nathaniel, 427, 429
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 275, 292
A Bone to Gnaw, for the Democrats (Cobbett), 255
Bonus Bill, 485
Boone, Daniel, 370–71
Boston, Massachusetts, 104, 349, 486, 516, 520, 593, 604, 706
Boston Gazette, 537
Boston Massacre, 213
Boucher, François, 548
Boudinot, Elias, 57, 500, 577
Boydell, John, 563
Brace, Jonathan, 412
Brackenridge, Hugh Henry, 182, 218–21, 547
Bradford, William, 137
Bradley, Stephen, 375
Brant, Joseph, 112
Brewster, Walter, 349–50
bridges, 482, 706–7
Brief Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century (Miller), 258
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