Simon P. Newman vividly evokes the celebrations of America's first national holidays in the years between the ratification of the Constitution and the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson. He demonstrates how, by taking part in the festive culture of the streets, ordinary American men and women were able to play a significant role in forging the political culture of the young nation. The creation of many of the patriotic holidays we still celebrate coincided with the emergence of the first two-party system. With the political songs they sang, the liberty poles they raised, and the partisan badges they wore, Americans of many walks of life helped shape a new national politics destined to replace the regional practices of the colonial era.
- ISBN10 0812233999
- ISBN13 9780812233995
- Publish Date 30 June 1997
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 18 January 2017
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Pennsylvania Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 296
- Language English