The Age of Federalism / Edition 1

9780195093810, 1996. Paperback. Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting.The spine remains undamaged. When Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office for the presidency in 1801, A merica had just passed through twelve critical years, years dominated by so me of the towering figures of our history and by the challenge of having to do everything for the first time. Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Adams, an d Jefferson himself each had a share in shaping that remarkable era-an era that is brilliantly captured in The Age of Federalism. Written by esteemed historians Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism gives us a reflective, deeply informed analytical survey of this extraordinary period. Ranging over the widest variety of concerns-political, cultural, economic, diplomatic, and military-the authors provide a sweeping historical account, keeping always in view not only the problems the new nation faced but also the particular individuals who tried to solve them. As they move through the Federalist era, they draw subtly perceptive character sketches not only of the great figures-Washington and Jefferson, Talleyrand and Napoleon Bonaparte-but also of lesser ones, such as George Hammond, Britain's frustrated minister to the United States, James McHenry, Adams's hapless Secretary of War, the pre-Chief Justice version of John Marshall, and others. They weave these lively profiles into an analysis of the central controversies of the day, turning such intricate issues as the public debt into fascinating depictions of opposing political strategies and contending economic philosophi.