Why read The Democratic Collapse?

Book cover of The Democratic Collapse: How Gender Politics Broke a Party and a Nation, 1856-1861

Book description

This fresh examination of antebellum politics comprehensively examines the ways that gender issues and gendered discourse exacerbated fissures within the Democratic Party in the critical years between 1856 and 1861. Whereas the cultural politics of gender had bolstered Democratic unity through the 1850s, the Lecompton crisis and John Brown's raid…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Democratic Collapse as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mark R. Cheathem

Author

As someone who primarily writes about the Jacksonian era, I always enjoy reading a book that clearly explains the aftermath of the battles between Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, between the Democrats and the Whigs. It’s like having the postscript that tells you what happened to the characters after the main story is completed.

Haumesser not only accomplishes that feat, outlining how the Democratic Party disintegrated into factionalism; she also explains the role of gender in shaping the political rhetoric of these final few years leading up to the Civil War.

From Mark's 3 favorite reads in 2023.