A Jackson Man: Amos Kendall and the Rise of American Democracy

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LSU Press, 2004 - 332 páginas
A rare, fascinating personality emerges in Donald B. Cole's biography of Amos Kendall (1789-1869), the reputed intellectual engine behind Andrew Jackson's administration and an influential figure in the transformation of young America from an agrarian republic to a capitalist democracy. After helping Jackson with the election of 1828, Kendall became the president's chief advisor - speech writer, postmaster general, and author of the famous veto of the bill to recharter the Bank of the United States. Born on a small Massachusetts farm and educated at Dartmouth, Kendall moved to Kentucky as a young man to seek his fortune and eventually became one of the very few nationally prominent antebellum politicians who successfully combined northern origins and southern experience. Kendall's role in democratizing American politics is shown in a compelling narrative of his evolution from a republican idealist to a democratic individualist who contributed greatly to the rise of the Democratic party. communications revolution: he was deeply involved in the expansion of the post office and of the telegraph, and as a philanthropist he founded the school for the deaf that became Gallaudet College. Unforgettable in appearance and manner - a gaunt, whitehaired, reclusive hypochondriac - he inspired mystery as well as awe in admirers and enemies. In his ascent from a struggling jack-of-all-trades to a wealthy Washingtonian, he exemplified the American self-made man. The first biography of Kendall, this superbly written and researched volume unfolds the progression of American democracy and the culture that created it.
 

Contenido

Introduction I
1
Part One NEW ENGLAND
7
Dunstable
9
New Worlds
27
Part Two KENTUCKY 3 Down the Ohio
33
A Yankee in Kentucky
42
Political Editor
55
The Relief War
67
Party Battles
132
The Kitchen Cabinet
144
The Bank Veto
157
Removing the Deposits
177
Postmaster General
193
Van Buren
214
Private Life
233
Telegraph Consolidation
262

The Court War
81
Jackson
95
Part Three WASHINGTON
113
Reform
115
Philanthropist and War Democrat
278
Conclusion
297
Index
321
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Donald B. Cole is Professor of history emeritus at Phillips Exeter Academy.

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