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

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. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Introduction: The Spirit of Young America......Page 15 1 Orthodox Jacksonianism, 1828-1844......Page 31 Strict Construction and States’ Rights......Page 34 A Proslavery Democracy......Page 39 An Agrarian Democracy......Page 42 An Insular Democracy......Page 44 Reform in Other Hands......Page 47 2 Trade and Improvements: The Economic Orientation of Young America Democrats......Page 50 Free Trade......Page 51 Internal Improvements......Page 58 Rivers and Harbors......Page 69 3 Rails, Canals, and a New Commercial Spirit......Page 79 Causes and Explanations......Page 80 Rails and Canals......Page 83 The Independent Treasury......Page 93 New Feelings for the Market: Individual Cases......Page 96 A Broad Spirit of Enterprise......Page 103 4 Young America Democrats and the Revolutions of 1848......Page 107 Young America and Young Europe......Page 108 Among the Barricades, in Person and in Spirit......Page 112 The Magnificent Magyar......Page 121 Innocents Abroad......Page 124 5 A New International Consciousness......Page 130 Reviving Monroe’s Doctrine......Page 132 “Fifty-Four Forty”......Page 135 Texas and Mexico......Page 141 Pearl of the Antilles......Page 149 Land of the Samurai......Page 153 The Grand Tour......Page 155 6 The Fires of Perfection Revisited......Page 159 Free Land......Page 161 Knowledge and New Institutions......Page 164 A Social Conscience......Page 167 Race and Immigration......Page 175 Investigation and Technology......Page 179 Monopolies and Regulation......Page 185 The Spoils System......Page 188 7 The Antislavery Democracy......Page 197 Barnburners and Others......Page 198 Colonization, Popular Sovereignty, and Free Soil......Page 204 8 New Democrats and the Coming of the Civil War......Page 216 A Partisan Glue......Page 217 A Bipartisan Drawstring......Page 236 Conclusion: Lincoln on Young America......Page 243 Index......Page 251 "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 is the first book to offer 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."--Jacket This book investigates a particular group, called Young America, within the U.S. Democratic Party during the 1840s and 1850s. It argues that members of this group changed what it meant to be a Democrat. They moved the party toward new economic thinking, greater engagement with the world, a more active reform attitude, and a new view of the U.S. Constitution, thus playing a role in the coming of the American Civil War. This is the first full-blown examination of Young America's impact in the realm of politics, as opposed to merely literature and culture. This 2007 book investigates the Young America faction of the US Democratic Party during the 1840s and 1850s. The New Democrats moved the party toward fresh economic thinking, greater engagement with the world, a more active reform attitude, and a new view of the US Constitution.

Investigates the Young America group within the U.S. Democratic Party during the 1840s and 1850s.