Republican Courts and Beyond: Early U.S. Political Culture

The once moribund field of early American political history has enjoyed a much needed revival over the past decade, thanks to the generous borrowing of interdisciplinary and transatlantic approaches from the realms of cultural anthropology, sociology, and European cultural and social history. American historians have embraced the tools of social and cultural analysis to produce the groundbreaking field of early American political culture. Amidst this vibrant political resurrection is an equally vibrant debate between early republic historians over whose political culture to emphasize: the masses or the elites? One approach has been to focus on the political culture of street theater and popular demonstrations, embracing the “history from below” perspective of social history. Other historians have chosen to examine the “republican courts” of America’s governing elite: presidents, first ladies, and other early political leaders, finding parallels with European monarchical rituals. Even if the historians employing these competing approaches struggle to find common ground, a reader who embraces these innovative studies on both sides of the debate will come away with a rich portrait of the early republic’s diverse and dynamic political culture.