As an engaging and persuasive survey of American public life from 1816 to 1848, this work remains a landmark achievement. Now updated to address twenty-five years of new scholarship, the book interprets the exciting political landscape that was the age of Jackson, a time that saw the rise of strong political parties and an increased popular involvement in national politics. In this work, the author examines the tension between liberty and power that both characterized the period and formed part of its historical legacy.

American politics and society were transformed by the antislavery movement. But as Corey M. Brooks shows, it was the antislavery third parties not the Democrats or Whigs that had the largest and least-understood impact. Third-party abolitionists exploited opportunities to achieve outsized influence and shaping the national debate. Political abolitionists key contribution was the elaboration and dissemination of the notion of the Slave Power the claim that slaveholders wielded disproportionate political power and therefore threatened the liberties and political power of northern whites. By convincing northerners of the Slave Power menace, abolitionists paved the way for broader coalitions, and ultimately for Abraham Lincoln s Republican Party."

Written by one of early America's most eminent historians, this book masterfully discusses the debates over constitutionalism that took place in the Revolutionary era.

Does every increase in the power of government entail a loss of liberty for the people? James H. Read examines how four key Founders--James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson--wrestled with this question during the first two decades of the American Republic. Power versus Liberty reconstructs a four-way conversation--sometimes respectful, sometimes shrill--that touched on the most important issues facing the new nation: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, federal authority versus states' rights, freedom of the press, the controversial Bank of the United States, the relation between nationalism and democracy, and the elusive meaning of "the consent of the governed." Each of the men whose thought Read considers differed on these key questions. Jefferson believed that every increase in the power of government came at the expense of liberty: energetic governments, he insisted, are always oppressive. Madison believed that this view was too simple, that liberty can be threatened either by too much or too little governmental power. Hamilton and Wilson likewise rejected the Jeffersonian view of power and liberty but disagreed with Madison and with each other. The question of how to reconcile energetic government with the liberty of citizens is as timely today as it was in the first decades of the Republic. It pervades our political discourse and colors our readings of events from the confrontation at Waco to the Oklahoma City bombing to Congressional debate over how to spend the government surplus. While the rhetoric of both major political parties seems to posit a direct relationship between the size of our government and the scope of our political freedoms, the debates of Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson confound such simple dichotomies. As Read concludes, the relation between power and liberty is inherently complex.

An original and stimulating critique of American empire

A novel, sophisticated and realistic account of freedom as power through political representation.

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This is a study of debate over sexuality and sexual morality that roiled politics in Germany between 1880 and 1914. All parties involved understood it to be a debate over the most fundamental question of modern political life: how to secure both national power and individual freedom in the context of rapid social and cultural change.

For centuries past, the quest for liberty has driven political movements across the globe, inspiring revolutions in America, France, China and many other countries. Now, we have Iraq and the idea of liberation through preemption. What is this liberty that is so fervently pursued? Does it mean a private space for individuals, the capacity for free and rational choice, or collective self-rule? What is the difference between positive and negative liberty, or the relationship between freedom and coercion? Reflecting on these questions reveals a surprisingly rich landscape of ideas - and further questions. "The Liberty Reader" collects twelve of the most important and insightful essays on issues of freedom currently available. It is essential reading for students of social and political theory, political philosophy, and anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the variety of ideas and ideals behind perennial human strivings for liberty.