Analysis Of The Book The Quartet And Thomas Jefferson

Two â€Å"Revolutions† – 3/2/16 – Cassie Young In the books The Quartet and Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Ellis and Joyce Appleby discuss their thoughts on two important moments in American history and how they believe them to be revolutionary. The Quartet describes the political situation of the United States immediately following the American Revolution and how it made the transformation from a confederation into a republic. To do this, it follows the actions of four prominent men – George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison – as they work toward their goal of bringing about a new national government and discusses nationalism, issues such as economics and expansion, and arguments about personal, state, and federal powers. He argues that the debate over the Constitution was between â€Å"nationalists† and â€Å"confederationists†, that the second Revolution was a by-product of the first in that it took the systems o f the newly-independent states and reworked them into a coherent national collective, and that without this change, the United States couldn’t have become a modern model of government. Thomas Jefferson focuses instead on the life and political career of Jefferson, his personal ideologies, and his actions while in office. Appleby seems especially interested in how his views were alike and divergent from the opinions of his contemporaries. Though many historians dismiss the claim, she regards Jefferson’s description of his election as â€Å"real a revolution inShow MoreRelatedThe American Civil War : The United States6683 Words   |  27 Pagesfactors explaining the geographic divide, including sectionalism, protectionism and state s rights. Sectionalism. Sectionalism refers to the different economies, social structure, customs and political values of the North and South. The fourth in this quartet is the theory of state sovereignty, also known as the Calhoun doctrine, named after the South Carolinian political theorist and statesman John C. Calhoun. Rejecting the arguments for federal authority or self-government, state sovereignty wouldRead MoreThe American Civil War : The United States8725 Words   |  35 Pagesslavery were among those opposed to any such right to bring slaves and slavery into the free states and territories. The Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857 bolstered the Southern case within territories, and angered the North. The fourth in this quartet is the theory of state sovereignty, also known as the Calhoun doctrine, named after the South Carolinian political theorist and statesman John C. Calhoun. Rejecting the arguments for federal authority or self-government, state sovereignty would