Overview

This book examines the changing role of popular politics in the early republic. During the mid-1790s, citizens of the newly formed United States became embroiled in a divisive debate over a proposed commercial treaty with Great Britain. Long regarded as a pivotal event in the history of the early republic, the controversy pitted pro-treaty Federalists against anti-treaty Jeffersonian Republicans. Yet, as Todd Estes argues in this perceptive study, the year-long debate over the ratification of the Jay Treaty represented more than a clash over foreign policy between two nascent political parties. It also marked a significant milestone in the role played by public opinion in the young nation's political culture.

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9781558496699

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The Jay Treaty marked a decisive turning point in framing an international settlement after the American Revolution; Todd Estes demonstrates that its ratification also marked an important step in the evolution of American politics. He shows that the debate over the treaty opened national politics to public opinion, as Republicans and then Federalists worked to develop linkages between the national capitol and the people in their localities in order to shape the outcome. His book will establish the importance of the political struggle over the Jay Treaty to the emergence of partisanship in the early American republic. -- John L. Brooke

Author Information

TODD ESTES is associate professor of history at Oakland University.

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