The Young America Movement and the Transformation of the Democratic Party, 1828-1861

Description

The phrase 'Young America' connoted territorial and commercial expansion in the antebellum United States. During the years leading up to the Civil War, it permeated various parts of the Democratic party, producing new perspectives in the realms of economics, foreign policy, and constitutionalism. Led by figures such as Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and editor John L. O'Sullivan of New York, Young America Democrats gained power during the late 1840s and early 1850s. They challenged a variety of orthodox Jacksonian assumptions, influencing both the nation's foreign policy and its domestic politics. This 2007 book offers an exclusively political history of Young America's impact on the Democratic Party, complementing existing studies of the literary and cultural dimensions of this group. This close look at the Young America Democracy sheds light on the political realignments of the 1850s and the coming of the Civil War, in addition to showcasing the origins of America's longest existing political party.

Yonatan Eyal received his A.B. in history from Stanford University and his A.M. and Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. Eyal has been the recipient of the Dissertation Writing Fellowship at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University, the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History Fellowship, the Richard A. Berenson Graduate Fellowship at Harvard University, the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, and the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. His articles have been published in Civil War History, American Nineteenth Century History, and the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. This is Eyal's first book.

"Yonatan Eyal has written a smart and subtly provocative new book on the political ideology, aims, and long-term effects of the Young America movement in the Democratic Party. His study should prove both useful and challenging for specialists in antebellum political history and the history of the Democratic Party." -Padraig Riley, H-CivWar "This book makes an important contribution to our understanding of antebellum political party development, particularly of the Democrats; and for some time it will likely be an important resource for information about the lives and political activities of the still-underappreciated New Democrats of the Young America Movement. Rethinking the relationship between Democrats and the market revolution, Yonatan Eyal argues for splitting the antebellum period in two... This is the book's primary contention, and it is convincing." -Stewart Winger, American Historical Review "De Alva Stanwood Alexander, the noted journalist, politician, and historian, memorably described the politics of 19th-century New York as 'a labyrinth of wheels within wheels ... understood only by the managers.' In THE YOUNG AMERICA MOVEMENT AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, Yonatan Eyal brings clarity and understanding to the momentous changes wrought by the political realignments of the 1850s. This work sheds considerable light on how America's longest existing party survived the crisis of the Union." -Jonathan Earle, University of Kansas, and author of Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil, 1824-1854 "A sympathetic portrayal of a nationalistic movement within Jacksonian Democracy: the expansionist, pro-business, and internationally interventionist 'Young America.'" -Daniel Walker Howe, University of California at Los Angeles, and author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848