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A Study Of Adams's History
Henry Adams's nine-volume History of the United States in the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison is by all accounts the greatest historical study written about the United States. Adams begins with a survey of the condition of the United States in 1800, following the election of Thomas Jefferson. He concludes sixteen years later with a description of the United States in 1816, following the end of the War of 1812. For all the turmoil of these years, the country had grown and prospered, and attained something of a sense of itself as a nation. Adams researched his history meticulously, discovered previously unknown documents in the archives of England, France, and Spain, and produced a detailed diplomatic, military, and political history of the era between 1800 and 1816. Fortunately, Adams' history is accessible in its entirety to the interested reader in two volumes of the Library of America series.
In his recent book, "Henry Adams and the Making of America" (2005), Garry Wills describes the creation of Adams's seminal history and leads the reader through Adams's work. Wills's book thus is in part a mirror, describing and commenting upon both Adams' history and the underlying subject of Adams' history -- the United States in the first 16 years of the Nineteenth Century -- and Wills explains why this history matters. Wills points out that Adams's history is too little known and read and that it is frequently misinterpreted. He offers two reasons for the misinterpretations.
First, some readers assume that Adams's aim was to vindicate the policies of his great-grandfather, President John Adams, and his grandfather, President John Quincy Adams by deprecating the work of Jefferson and Madison. But Henry Adams did not have a high regard for the work of his illustrious ancestors. He is critical of them both and praises the work of Jefferson, in particular, in helping take the United States in a different, pragmatic, and democratic direction.
Second, according to Wills, some readers tend to read Adams's histories backwards, through the world-weariness and pessimism expressed in Adams's most famous work, "The Education of Henry Adams". This reading overlooks the vitality, optimism, and sense of comedy that Adams brought to his History as he praised the sense of nationalism and progress that he found in the United States following the War of 1812.
I think both Wills's points are well-taken. But it is also fair to say that the United States grew and developed, by 1816, almost in spite of itself. Adams was not making a case for Federalism, but he also was not entirely in the party of Jefferson and Madison. His book shows a fine sense of irony and ambiguity in considering the development of the United States. Thus, the thought of the book has ties to the "Education," in that it suggests the accidental, unplanned aspect of history,and also shows, as Wills points out, some effort to see the history of the United States in terms other than as a dichotomy between two political parties.
Wills's book is in three parts. The first part offers background on Henry Adams, his relationship to his grandfather and to his grandmother Louisa, to Civil War America, and to the way in which Adams prepared himself for the writing of his history. The second and third parts of the book consist of a detailed discussion of Adams's history itself, with the second part dealing with the Jefferson administration and the third part with Madison's administration. With respect to Jefferson, Wills concentrates, as does Adams, on the Louisiana purchase, the conspiracy of Aaron Burr for Western secession, and the Embargo. With respect to Madison, the focus is on the War of 1812 and its aftermath. As Wills points out, the two major protagonists in Adams's history are Jefferson and Napoleon.
Wills offers both a good introduction to Adams's history and a good account of the 1800-1816 period in his own right. He amplifies and comments upon Adams's discussion with other materials and with comments of his own. In an Epilogue, Wills points to Adams's study as the first attempt at modern source-based historical writing in the United States. Wills finds the importance of Adams's work in the emphasis he places on the growth of democracy and on American nationalism I think Wills goes well beyond Henry Adams in some of his conclusions and observations.
Wills has written an excellent study which may encourage readers to read and think about American history and about the nature of American democracy and to explore on their own the great historical work of Henry Adams.
Robin Friedman
Henry Adams's nine-volume History of the United States in the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison is by all accounts the greatest historical study written about the United States. Adams begins with a survey of the condition of the United States in 1800, following the election of Thomas Jefferson. He concludes sixteen years later with a description of the United States in 1816, following the end of the War of 1812. For all the turmoil of these years, the country had grown and prospered, and attained something of a sense of itself as a nation. Adams researched his history meticulously, discovered previously unknown documents in the archives of England, France, and Spain, and produced a detailed diplomatic, military, and political history of the era between 1800 and 1816. Fortunately, Adams' history is accessible in its entirety to the interested reader in two volumes of the Library of America series.
In his recent book, "Henry Adams and the Making of America" (2005), Garry Wills describes the creation of Adams's seminal history and leads the reader through Adams's work. Wills's book thus is in part a mirror, describing and commenting upon both Adams' history and the underlying subject of Adams' history -- the United States in the first 16 years of the Nineteenth Century -- and Wills explains why this history matters. Wills points out that Adams's history is too little known and read and that it is frequently misinterpreted. He offers two reasons for the misinterpretations.
First, some readers assume that Adams's aim was to vindicate the policies of his great-grandfather, President John Adams, and his grandfather, President John Quincy Adams by deprecating the work of Jefferson and Madison. But Henry Adams did not have a high regard for the work of his illustrious ancestors. He is critical of them both and praises the work of Jefferson, in particular, in helping take the United States in a different, pragmatic, and democratic direction.
Second, according to Wills, some readers tend to read Adams's histories backwards, through the world-weariness and pessimism expressed in Adams's most famous work, "The Education of Henry Adams". This reading overlooks the vitality, optimism, and sense of comedy that Adams brought to his History as he praised the sense of nationalism and progress that he found in the United States following the War of 1812.
I think both Wills's points are well-taken. But it is also fair to say that the United States grew and developed, by 1816, almost in spite of itself. Adams was not making a case for Federalism, but he also was not entirely in the party of Jefferson and Madison. His book shows a fine sense of irony and ambiguity in considering the development of the United States. Thus, the thought of the book has ties to the "Education," in that it suggests the accidental, unplanned aspect of history,and also shows, as Wills points out, some effort to see the history of the United States in terms other than as a dichotomy between two political parties.
Wills's book is in three parts. The first part offers background on Henry Adams, his relationship to his grandfather and to his grandmother Louisa, to Civil War America, and to the way in which Adams prepared himself for the writing of his history. The second and third parts of the book consist of a detailed discussion of Adams's history itself, with the second part dealing with the Jefferson administration and the third part with Madison's administration. With respect to Jefferson, Wills concentrates, as does Adams, on the Louisiana purchase, the conspiracy of Aaron Burr for Western secession, and the Embargo. With respect to Madison, the focus is on the War of 1812 and its aftermath. As Wills points out, the two major protagonists in Adams's history are Jefferson and Napoleon.
Wills offers both a good introduction to Adams's history and a good account of the 1800-1816 period in his own right. He amplifies and comments upon Adams's discussion with other materials and with comments of his own. In an Epilogue, Wills points to Adams's study as the first attempt at modern source-based historical writing in the United States. Wills finds the importance of Adams's work in the emphasis he places on the growth of democracy and on American nationalism I think Wills goes well beyond Henry Adams in some of his conclusions and observations.
Wills has written an excellent study which may encourage readers to read and think about American history and about the nature of American democracy and to explore on their own the great historical work of Henry Adams.
Robin Friedman
