The American Mind in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

by Irving H. Bartlett

Book Overview

EXCERPT: "The half century between the War of 1812 and the Civil War was above all an age of expansiveness in America. Whether measured in terms of population, territory, urbanization, economic growth, technological development, democratization, or nationalism, American society was transformed quantitatively and qualitatively at a spectacular rate. What Americans thought about themselves, their country, and their universe was always tightly linked...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0882958097
• ISBN13: 9780882958095
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 157 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

The American Mind in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Irving H. Bartlett's contribution to the American History Series is a sound and brief look at the ideas that dominated the period of time in American history that is overlook by most history classes, the 50 years from the War of 1812 to the American Civil War. From religion to reformers to showmen, Bartlett turns a critical eye to them all. A large section of the book deals with the minds of the Jacksonians and the mind of the South. Emerson, Thoreau, the Grimke sisters, Webster, Calhoun, Howthorne and others have their influence over the way Americans think analyzed. My personal favorite is the chapter on P.T. Barnum and the begining of entertainment in the United States. This is a great book for a college class or any lover of history.