No Party Now

Politics in the Civil War North

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Political Parties, History, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
Cover of the book No Party Now by Adam I. P. Smith, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Adam I. P. Smith ISBN: 9780190293345
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: July 27, 2006
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Adam I. P. Smith
ISBN: 9780190293345
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: July 27, 2006
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

During the Civil War, Northerners fought each other in elections with almost as much zeal as they fought Southern rebels on the battlefield. Yet politicians and voters alike claimed that partisanship was dangerous in a time of national crisis. In No Party Now, Adam I. P. Smith challenges the prevailing view that political processes in the North somehow helped the Union be more stable and effective in the war. Instead, Smith argues, early efforts to suspend party politics collapsed in the face of divisions over slavery and the purpose of the war. At the same time, new contexts for political mobilization, such as the army and the avowedly non-partisan Union Leagues, undermined conventional partisan practices. The administration's supporters soon used the power of anti-party discourse to their advantage by connecting their own antislavery arguments to a powerful nationalist ideology. By the time of the 1864 election they sought to de-legitimize partisan opposition with slogans like "No Party Now But All For Our Country!" No Party Now offers a reinterpretation of Northern wartime politics that challenges the "party period paradigm" in American political history and reveals the many ways in which the unique circumstances of war altered the political calculations and behavior of politicians and voters alike. As Smith shows, beneath the superficial unity lay profound differences about the implications of the war for the kind of nation that the United States was to become.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

During the Civil War, Northerners fought each other in elections with almost as much zeal as they fought Southern rebels on the battlefield. Yet politicians and voters alike claimed that partisanship was dangerous in a time of national crisis. In No Party Now, Adam I. P. Smith challenges the prevailing view that political processes in the North somehow helped the Union be more stable and effective in the war. Instead, Smith argues, early efforts to suspend party politics collapsed in the face of divisions over slavery and the purpose of the war. At the same time, new contexts for political mobilization, such as the army and the avowedly non-partisan Union Leagues, undermined conventional partisan practices. The administration's supporters soon used the power of anti-party discourse to their advantage by connecting their own antislavery arguments to a powerful nationalist ideology. By the time of the 1864 election they sought to de-legitimize partisan opposition with slogans like "No Party Now But All For Our Country!" No Party Now offers a reinterpretation of Northern wartime politics that challenges the "party period paradigm" in American political history and reveals the many ways in which the unique circumstances of war altered the political calculations and behavior of politicians and voters alike. As Smith shows, beneath the superficial unity lay profound differences about the implications of the war for the kind of nation that the United States was to become.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Luck and the Irish by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Emancipation: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book The Vietnam War:A Concise International History by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book The American Disease by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Grace Darling Level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Urban Youth and Photovoice by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Executing the Rosenbergs by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book The Comfort of Strangers by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Scientific Controversies by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Inventing a Christian America by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Rome Resurgent by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Creation and Abortion by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Law 101 : Everything You Need To Know About The American Legal System by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Brain Landscape The Coexistence of Neuroscience and Architecture by Adam I. P. Smith
Cover of the book Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory by Adam I. P. Smith
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy