peiyingtang

This is the middle of a long series, and it is beginning to sprawl. Having set the stage for political conflict in tbe preceding volume, Dumas Malone turns his minute focus from foreign affairs to the ordering of the domestic political sphere. The universal unification of America under Washington has passed, and the bulk of this book is concerned with a detailed analysis of the splintering of factions, the creation of parties, and the debate of ideas. This was well foreshadowed in the first volume, but here, as there, we are ill-equipped to follow the debate. The rift between Republican and Federalist is now complete, but Malone's neglect of the precise nature of that rift is a handicap to the reader. Jefferson, as usual, is a diehard advocate of individual liberty, a champion of free thought and civil tolerance. While Malone's treatment of his character is deservedly admiring, the opposition to Jefferson's proto-libertarianism is never clearly defined, which dims the limelight a bit. However, the portrait is solid and consistent, worthy of admiration in it's own right, if not in light of what it accomplished. The opposition is equally well-recorded, replete with debates, votes, vetoes and filibusters. The political fights are startlingly familiar, and that shock of recognition is a valuable experience. The parallels need no belaboring, and Malone, writing from a distance of 4 decades, does none. But that pattern recognition is the truly worthwhile part of this chunk of Malone's history. Even if, unfortunately, this continues to be a history at the expense of biography and character study, it is a thorough and intelligent one. The price to pay in ponderousness and lack of clarity is, I think, worthwhile.

2022-10-21 05:26