Founding fanatics : extremism and the formation of American democracy / Noah Eber-Schmid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eber-Schmid, Noah, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Radicalism--United States--History--18th century.

Radicalism.

Democracy--United States--History--18th century.

Democracy.

United States--Politics and government--To 1775.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

Since the American Revolution, scholars and citizens have often assumed that dispassionate rationality, reciprocity, and nonviolent tolerance are necessary conditions for the sustained development of democracy. Accordingly, they reject oppositional parties that spurn consensus and terms of mutual respect - and often use force to accomplish their political goals - denouncing extremists as irrational and antidemocratic. 'Founding Fanatics' questions this understanding, examining how moments of tension, violence, and extremism in the United States have sometimes served the pursuit of political equality. Noah Eber-Schmid focuses his analysis on the American Founding era, presenting case studies of the early memorialization of the Boston Massacre, popular debates over Shays' Rebellion, the thought and practices of the Democratic Societies, and the use of the French Revolution in political discourse.

Contents:

Introduction : extremism, democratic politics, and the founding

Patriots in the court of pandemonium : people, paradox, and the making of zealots

Hostis reipublicae : extremism and perception in an American insurrection

The language of faction : extreme speech, public opinion, and popular democracy in the Early Republic

American Jacobinism : the French Revolution, Anti-Jacobinism, and the fear of democratic extremes

Extremism and the tragedy of American democracy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on September 18, 2025).

ISBN:

0-19-782372-6

0-19-782371-8

0-19-782373-4

9780197823712

OCLC:

1537013397