The Passage of the Republic

Book excerpt: The unifying theme that ties together this narrative is the transformation of late 19th-century republic ideology through a continuous interaction with an expanding market economy. Part I of this volume covers the antebellum America, 1815-1860. Part II interprets the Civil War Reconstruction era, 1860-1877, as a prolonged crisis of republican order. Part III sets forth demographic and economic patterns of change that were keyed to the spread of a national rail network and the development of steam power. It concentrates on western expansion; the postwar Southern economy; the linkage of factories, immigrants, and cities; and the growth of the corporate form of business management. It also examines the social and cultural consequences of these patterns of change and is organized around the middle-class quest for public orderliness. ISBN 0-669-04758-9 (pbk.): $13.00.