Reconsidering American Political Thought: A New Identity

187 Pages·2019·4.16 MB·English

by  Saladin Ambar

RECONSIDERING AMERICAN
POLITICAL THOUGHT
Filling in the missing spaces left by traditional textbooks on American political
thought, Reconsidering American Political Thought uses race, gender, and
ethnicity as a lens through which to engage ongoing debates on American
values and intellectual traditions. Weaving document-based texts analysis with
short excerpts from classics in American literature, this book presents a re-
examination of the political and intellectual debates of consequence through-
out American history.
Purposelybeginningthestoryin1619,SaladinAmbarreassessesthereligious,
political, and social histories of the colonial period in American history. There-
after, Ambar moves through the story of America,with each chapterfocusing on
adifferenterainAmericanhistoryuptothepresentday.Ambarthreadstogether
analysis of periods including Thomas Jefferson’s aspiration to create an “Empire
ofLiberty,”theethnic,racial,andgender-baseddiscourseinstrumentalincreating
a“Yankee”industrialstatebetween1877and1932,andtheintellectual,cultural,
andsocialforcesthatledtothepoliticalriseofRonaldReaganandBarackObama
inrecentdecades.Inclosing,Ambarassessestheprospectsforanew,moreinvig-
orated political thought and discourse to reshape and redirect national energies
andidentityintheTrumppresidency.
Reconsidering American Political Thought presents a broad and subjective
view about critical arguments in American political thought, giving future gen-
erations of students and lecturers alike an inclusive understanding of how to
teach,research,study,andthinkaboutAmericanpoliticalthought.
Saladin Ambar is Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar at
the Center on the American Governor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at
RutgersUniversity–NewBrunswick.HeistheauthorofHowGovernorsBuiltthe
Modern American Presidency (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012) and Mal-
colm X at Oxford Union: Racial Politics in a Global Era (Oxford University
Press, 2014), which was nominated for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for
best non-fiction book by an African American author. Ambar’s most recent
book, American Cicero: Mario Cuomo and the Defense of American Liberalism
(OxfordUniversityPress,2017),isthefirsttoexaminetheentirepoliticalcareer
of former New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo. Ambar’s research interests
includetheAmericanpresidency,Americanpoliticaldevelopment,Americanpol-
iticalthought,andraceandethnicpolitics.
“Scholars, students, and everyone else seeking to understand US political
thought will be swept up by Saladin Ambar’s retelling of the American story.
Reconsidering American Political Thought is populated by a familiar cast of
characters and yet is refreshing and original in its recentering of figures whose
voices have been erased or relegated to footnotes in similar texts. Ambar’s
writing sparkles, his editorial choices are incisive, and the narrative his text
spins from these choices soars.”
Elizabeth F. Cohen, Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School of
Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
“Composed with clarity and verve, this refreshingly inclusive treatment of
American political thought places race and gender at the center, from which
they had been marginalized far too long. By inviting students into the realm
of ideas as shaping, and shaped by, historical development, the book offers a
deep reconsideration and a model of learned revision.”
Ira I. Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and
History, Columbia University
“Saladin Ambar’s work, Reconsidering American Political Thought, is an
impressive weaving together of variegated strands of four centuries of Ameri-
can political thinking and understanding. This book is able to do something
that is quite rare: putting all facets of political thought into sustained dialogue
and positioning that dialogue within a nuanced and inclusive understanding
of American political history and development. This is a brilliant, thoughtful,
and deeply researched exploration of not only American political thought, but
ultimately what that thought teaches about the people, the governmental
system, and the future of this vast continent.”
Lilly J. Goren, Professor of Political Science, Carroll
University, Waukesha, WI
“A dazzling book that reconsiders America itself. Ambar broadens our gaze
by adding race and gender perspectives to the great sweep of American think-
ing. He broadens it further by placing literature, history, religion, and
national myth alongside the familiar thinkers. The result is a bold, essential,
elegant, fascinating, fresh, subversive way to read the United States and its
peoples.”
James A. Morone, John Hazen White Professor of Political Science,
Public Policy, and Urban Studies, Brown University
“Ideas jump off the page in this beautifully written and artfully conceived text
of political theory written for all of us. Starting from a different vantage
point, Ambar conveys with flair the continuing relevance of political theory in
diverse democracy.”
Jane Yunhee Junn, Professor of Political Science, USC
RECONSIDERING AMERICAN
POLITICAL THOUGHT
A N I
EW DENTITY
8
S A
ALADIN MBAR
Firstpublished2020
byRoutledge
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andbyRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninforma
business
©2020Taylor&Francis
TherightofSaladinAmbartobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhas
beenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanyelectronic, mechanical,
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonly foridentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
Libraryof CongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Ambar,SaladinM.,author.
Title:ReconsideringAmericanpoliticalthought:anewidentity/Saladin
Ambar.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2020.|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019043539(print)|LCCN2019043540(ebook)|
ISBN9781138341722(hardback)|ISBN9781138343894(paperback)|
ISBN9780429438837(ebook)|ISBN9780429798191(adobepdf)|
ISBN9780429798177(mobi)|ISBN9780429798184(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:Politicalscience—UnitedStates—History.|United
States—Politicsandgovernment.
Classification:LCCJA84.U5.A672020(print)|LCCJA84.U5
(ebook)|DDC320.0973—dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019043539
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019043540
ISBN:978-1-138-34172-2(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-138-34389-4(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-429-43883-7(ebk)
TypesetinGalliard
bySwales&Willis,Exeter,Devon,UK
This book is dedicated to public school teachers everywhere, and
In memory of the historian John Pettegrew

8
C
ONTENTS
Introduction 1
ChapterOne ColonialLegacies:1619–1763 9
ChapterTwo RevolutionandOrder:1763–1800 31
ChapterThree Jefferson’s“EmpireofLiberty”:1800–1850 53
ChapterFour FractureandReunion:1850–1877 79
ChapterFive PoliticalThoughtandtheNewAmericanState:
1877–1932 103
ChapterSix RedefiningRights:1932–1980 125
ChapterSeven NeoconservatismandSuperpower:1980–2018 149
Index 169
vii

8
I
NTRODUCTION
When I was asked to consider writing a new textbook in American pol-
itical thought, I was at once excited and, admittedly, somewhat
daunted. I had not to that point written a large work in the field of pol-
itical theory. And although my work has been consciously theory-laden,
I was squarely in the sub-discipline of American political development,
having written a historical work on the presidency, a micro-history of
Malcolm X, and a political biography of former New York Governor
Mario Cuomo. When I sat down with the Acquisitions Editor for
a publisher later subsumed under Routledge to discuss what I might
have in mind, I was happily convinced that this book could contribute
something of consequence to students of American politics who were in
need of a different approach to the topic. That conversation led to
a second, longer discussion with Natalja Mortensen, the current Senior
Acquisitions Editor at Routledge, who has been responsible for shep-
herding this book to the finish line in a form better than it was at the
start. Thankfully, Natalja saw great value in the project, and was exceed-
ingly patient with me through a variety of fits and stops as I plodded
along. Her talent, warmth, and generous spirit were invaluable to me.
Ultimately, our conversations were about a single question: What
would make a new book in American political thought worthwhile?
For that, I had only to ponder my own undergraduate experience,
1