The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870

by Richard D. Brown

Overview

Thomas Jefferson's conviction that the health of the nation's democracy would depend on the existence of an informed citizenry has been a cornerstone of our political culture since the inception of the American republic. Even today's debates over education reform and the need to be competitive in a technologically advanced, global economy are rooted in the idea that the education of rising generations is crucial to the nation's future. In this book, Richard Brown traces the development of the ideal of an informed citizenry in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries and assesses its continuing influence and changing meaning. Although the concept had some antecedents in Europe, the full articulation of the ideal relationship between citizenship and knowledge came during the era of the American Revolution. The founding fathers believed that the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press, religion, speech, and assembly would foster an informed citizenry. According to Brown, many of the fundamental institutions of American democracy and society, including political parties, public education, the media, and even the postal system, have enjoyed wide government support precisely because they have been identified as vital for the creation and maintenance of an informed populace.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807846636
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	09/08/1997
Edition description:	2
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	1690L (what's this?)

About the Author

Richard D. Brown is professor of history at the University of Connecticut. His books include Knowledge Is Power: The Diffusion of Information in Early America, 1700-1865.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. English Subjects and Citizens from the Reformation through the Glorious Revolution
2. Freedom and Citizenship in Britain and Its American Colonies
3. Bulwark of Revolutionary Liberty: The Recognition of the Informed Citizen
4. Shaping an Informed Citizenry for a Republican Future
5. The Idea of an Informed Citizenry and the Mobilization of Institutions, 1820-1850
6. Testing the Meaning of an Informed Citizenry, 1820-1870
Epilogue. Looking Backward: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry at the End of the Twentieth Century
Notes
Index

Illustrations
Cover of pamphlet edition of U.S. Constitution, 1833
The American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge's "American Library," 1837
Lecture, 1844
"The Tawny Girl," 1823
Broadside used to promote Lancasterian schools in Britain, 1813
Illustrations from the Manual of the Lancasterian System, 1820
Sabbath school classroom, [1825]
St. Paul, Minnesota, periodical presenting translation from the Bible in the Dakota language, 1852
Frontispiece for The Liberty Bell showing a white girl instructing black children, 1839
Woodcut suggesting the legitimacy and practicality of African American literacy, [1827]
Image depicting antislavery meeting audience notable for its inclusive representation of citizenship, 1851
Illustration of reception for Daniel Webster portraying the dominant view of citizenship, 1851
Cover illustration for popular song, "We'll Show You When We Come to Vote," presenting an imaginary scene of what would happen if women were enfranchised, 1869
Denial of Victoria Woodhull's attempt to vote in New York City, 1871
African Americans voting in the South, 1867

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This excellent book is illuminating and provocative; it is timely as well. . . . Readers who turn to this book . . . may be assured of acquiring a solid grounding in the origins and complexities of the idea of an informed citizenry.—American Historical Review



[An] important and timely book.—Journal of American History



A rich exploration of the connections among ideas of education, citizenship, and political participation in American thought. . . . Will be of great usefulness not only to historians interested in the tensions over democratization in the early American republic but also to those interested in the roots of problems of democracy we still face.—Journal of the Early Republic



Using a rich variety of primary sources, [Brown] traces the origins of the ideology of an informed citizenry to English beginnings but sees growth of the concept in the age of the American Revolution, refined under the early republic and mobilized during the years before sectional conflict. . . . An important book in the ever-growing fields of book history, printing, and literacy; highly recommended for all academic and larger public libraries.—Library Journal



A superb intellectual history of a subject that, unlike the principle of freedom of the press, has never been explored in a thoroughgoing and systematic way.—College and Research Libraries



In this rich, wonderfully informative study, Richard Brown traces the emergence and transformation of the idea of an informed citizenry in America.—History of Education Quarterly



Brown's analysis serves both as an insightful monograph and an important historiographical threshold in American political history.—History: Reviews of New Books



I have read [the book] with both pleasure and admiration. It is a fine piece of work, very provocative.—David McCullough



This is an important work of broad interest to political and intellectual historians as well as to anyone concerned about the perceived current 'crisis' of an informed citizenry.—James H. Kettner, University of California, Berkeley

Editorial Reviews

[S]uperb intellectual history of a subject that, unlike the principle of freedom of the press, has never been [systematically] explored.

"College and Research Libraries"

ÝAn¨ important and timely book.

"Journal of American History"

ÝS¨uperb intellectual history of a subject that, unlike the principle of freedom of the press, has never been Ýsystematically¨ explored.

"College and Research Libraries"

A rich exploration of the connections among ideas of education, citizenship, and political participation in American thought.

"Journal of the Early Republic"

An important book in the ever-growing fields of book history, printing, and literacy.

"Library Journal"

"[S]uperb intellectual history of a subject that, unlike the principle of freedom of the press, has never been [systematically] explored.

"College and Research Libraries""

"A rich exploration of the connections among ideas of education, citizenship, and political participation in American thought.

"Journal of the Early Republic""

"An important book in the ever-growing fields of book history, printing, and literacy.

"Library Journal""

[An] important and timely book.

"Journal of American History"

This excellent book is illuminating and provocative; it is timely as well.

"American Historical Review"

From the Publisher