Part III

The Romance of the West

I. New Worlds

I. The Inland Empire and Jeffersonianism. Romance and social change. Rise of the middle class, and clash of philosophies. Economic origins of western Whiggery 137

II. Henry Clay: The embodiment of Whiggery. Reason for his shift from Jeffersonianism. His theory of paternalism 141

II. Two Spokesmen of the West

I. Andrew Jackson--Agrarian Liberal: The rise of western equalitarianism. Federalist contempt for a Democrat. Jackson our first great popular leader. Characteristics. Early drift towards middle-class position; reaction to agrarianism. Repudiation of Whiggery. Hatred of aristocracy. His attitude toward the Bank a return to the economics of John Taylor. His attitude towards the state a modified Jeffersonianism. His influence on American democracy. Effect on later Whig strategy 145

II. Lincoln--Free-Soil Liberal: Liberalism and the Declaration of Independence. A Jeffersonian who came to the defense of natural rights. Equalitarianism and _laissez faire_. The problem of free soil--a realist seeking to reconcile them. His “divided house” position an appeal to political realism. Good will versus coercive sovereignty. The prose of his speeches. Lincoln and the myth-makers 152

III. The Frontier in Letters: Romance and the Inland Empire. Two main conceptions: Boone and the Dark and Bloody Ground; Crockett and frontier humor 161

I. The Romantic Frontier 162

II. The Realistic Frontier

(1) Augustus Longstreet and the Georgia Frontier: The native realism of Georgia life. A frontier plebeian who developed middle-class qualities. A follower of Calhoun, but at bottom a Jeffersonian agrarian. With the rise of Abolitionism abandoned natural-rights philosophy. _Georgia Scenes_--the note of realism 166

(2) The Davy Crockett Myth: The popular appeal of the _Narrative_ and the rise of the Crockett myth. Origin at Washington. Three stages: frontier waggery; anti-Jackson spleen; the Alamo adventure. A Whig attempt to catch the coonskin vote--a by-product of Jacksonian methods. The beginnings in _Sketches and Eccentricities_. Effect on Davy. _The Tour_ and the _Life of Martin Van Buren_. Conjectural authorship. How Davy was made a Whig. The _Exploits and Adventures_. _The Narrative_--the real Davy a wastrel 172