Henry Adams on Pennsylvania in 1800: "The History of the United States 1801-1809"

 

I have begun reading Henry Adams’ History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson.  It covers the cultural and political history of the U.S. from 1800 to 1809.  Originally, the book was published in nine volumes.  I am reading the Library of America edition, which includes 1252 pages. (The Library of America also publishes Adams’ History of the United States of America During the Administrations of James Madison, which is equally long).

Adams, the descendant of two Presidents, had a personal interest in American history.  His grandfather was John Quincy Adams; his great-grandfather was John Adams.  That said, the book is not just about politics.  The first six chapters, covering 125 pages, explores what the United States looked like in the year 1800—a mere 24 years after 1776.  These chapters describe the variety of life in the U.S., with profiles of Northeastern, middle-Atlantic, and Southern states, how they viewed democracy, and how they dealt with political and social trends. I was especially surprised by his analysis of Pennsylvania:

The only true democratic community then existing in the eastern States, Pennsylvania was neither picturesque nor troublesome.  The State contained no hierarchy like that of New England; no great families like those of New York; no oligarchy like the planters of Virginia and South Carolina . . .The value of Pennsylvania to the Union lay not so much in the democratic spirit of society as in the rapidity with which it turned to national objects.  Partly for this reason, the State made an insignificant figure in politics. As the nation grew, less and less was said in Pennsylvania of interests distinct from those of the Union.  Too thoroughly democratic to fear democracy and too much nationalized to dread nationality, Pennsylvania became the ideal American State, easy, tolerant, and contented.  If its soil bred little genius, it bred still less treason. With twenty different religious creeds, its practice could not be narrow, and a strong Quaker element made it human.  If the American Union succeeded the good sense, liberality, and democratic spirit of Pennsylvania had a right to claim credit for the result (pp.80-81).

Jefferson was about to assume leadership of a nation struggling to find a common vision for their new democracy and for ways to take charge of their vast frontier.  I am looking forward to Adams’ telling of that tale.