The American Ballot Box in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

ISBN-13: 9780521537865 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 302 str.

Richard Franklin Bensel

Opis

Unlike modern elections, the American polling place of the mid-nineteenth century was thoroughly endowed with symbolic meaning for individuals who otherwise would not have had the least interest in politics. This made the polls exciting and encouraged men to vote at far higher rates than they do today. Men who approached a polling place were met by agents of the major political parties. They treated the voters with whiskey, gave them petty bribes, and urged that they should be loyal to their ethnic and religious communities. As reported in the eyewitness accounts of ordinary voters, the polls were almost always crowded, noisy, and often, violent.

Recenzje

"This important and provocative book should be in the library of everyone interested in nineteenth-century American politics." - Speculum Thomas E. Jeffrey, Rutgers University

Spis treści

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Structure and practice of elections; 3. Social construction of identity in Eastern rural communities; 4. Ethno-cultural stereotypes and voting in large cities; 5. Frontier democracy; 6. Loyal oaths, troops, and elections during the civil war; 7. Conclusion.