Young America : land, labor, and the Republican community / Mark A. Lause.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lause, Mark A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Land reform--United States--History--19th century.

Land reform.

Working class--Political activity--United States--19th century.

Working class.

Labor movement--United States--History--19th century.

Labor movement.

Social movements--United States--History--19th century.

Social movements.

Radicalism--United States--History--19th century.

Radicalism.

United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.

United States.

United States--Social conditions--To 1865.

National Reform Association (U.S.)--History--19th century.

National Reform Association (U.S.).

Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History--19th century.

Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The National Reform Association (NRA) was an antebellum land reform movement inspired by the shared dream of a future shaped by egalitarian homesteads. Mark A. Lause's Young America argues that it was these working people's interest in equitable access to the country's most obvious asset--land--that led them to advocate a federal homestead act granting land to the landless, state legislation to prohibit the foreclosure of family farms, and antimonopolistic limitations on land ownership.Rooting the movement in contemporary economic structures and social ideology, Young America examines this urban and working-class "agrarianism, " demonstrating how the political preoccupations of this movement transformed socialism by drawing its adherents from communitarian preoccupations into political action. The alliance of the NRA's land reformers and radical abolitionists led unprecedented numbers to petition Congress and established the foundations of what became the new Republican Party, promising "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men."

Contents:

""Title Page""; ""Copyright Page""; ""Table of Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction""; ""PART 1. A WORKERS' MOVEMENT""; ""1. National Reform: Agrarianism and the Origins of the American Workers' Movement""; ""2. Working-Class Antimonopoly and Land Monopoly: Building a National Reform Association""; ""3. A John-the-Baptist Work: The Agrarian Politicalization of American Socialism""; ""Illustrations follow page 46""; ""PART 2. THE AGRARIAN PERSUASION""; ""4. The Social Critique: Individual Liberty in a Class Society""

""5. Means and Ends: Pure Democracy, Self-Organization, and the Revolution""""6. Race and Solidarity: The Test of Rhetoric and Ideology""; ""PART 3. THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL REFORM""; ""7. Free Labor: The Coalition with the Abolitionists""; ""8. Free Soil and Cheap Land: National Reform and the Struggle for Radical Agrarianism""; ""9. The Republican Revolution: Victories beyond and by the Ballot""; ""Conclusion""; ""Appendix A: Land Reform, Cooperationist, and Socialist Activities, 1844-52""; ""Appendix B: The National Industrial Congresses""; ""Appendix C: New England Regional Associations""

""Appendix D: National Reform Songs and Poems""""Notes""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [169]-227) and index.

ISBN:

9786613895998

9781283583541

1283583542

9780252091698

0252091698

OCLC:

811409144