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Republicanism, self -interest, and failure: The political and private struggles of Andrew Jackson Donelson, 1799–1871
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Republicanism, self -interest, and failure: The political and private struggles of Andrew Jackson Donelson, 1799–1871
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Dissertation
Republicanism, self -interest, and failure: The political and private struggles of Andrew Jackson Donelson, 1799–1871
2002
Overview
Historians have argued that republican ideology, which called for virtuous, self-sacrificing conduct for the community's good, shaped nineteenth-century American society. It is apparent, however, that self-interest drove many Americans to abandon their ideology in pursuit of economic gain and political ambition. The presence of both goals in nineteenth-century America has made it difficult to discern which had the greatest impact. Andrew Jackson Donelson's life offers the opportunity to view the tension between republican ideology and self-interest. A career politician in the Democratic, Know-Nothing, and Constitutional Union parties, Andrew Jackson's nephew struggled to live the virtuous, republican life that he rhetorically supported, but his self-interested behavior often took priority instead. Donelson's concern about his private finances led him to seek political patronage, but once he obtained those positions, he consistently neglected his duties to tend his plantations. Using republican arguments, Donelson opposed the secessionists of the 1850s and 1860s, but his real motivation was the protection of slavery and cotton. By examining his life through personal and official correspondence and newspaper editorials, it is clear that Donelson's public statements supporting republicanism never matched his own self-interested actions. Donelson's public career and private life suggest that, despite maintaining their rhetorical ties to republican ideology, nineteenth-century Americans tended to pursue their own self-interest more often than they adhered to republicanism. They did not resolve the inherent conflict between republican ideology and self-interest; instead, they couched their political ambition and economic materialism in republican language.
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Subject
ISBN
9780493820583, 0493820582
