Brings the world of antebellum America alive.

Choice Reviews

A superb anthology, brimming with talent and insight. Professor Morrison has assembled an outstanding collection which deepens our understanding of the early republic. The Human Tradition in Antebellum America will attract a wide audience.

Laura McCall, Metropolitan State College of Denver

By giving voice to those Americans who have seldom been heard, this book reveals in unusual depth the democratization and expansion of American life in the early republic. Its focus on the rich diversity of the age reminds us all of the wide range of human experience in antebellum America at the same time as it strikingly portrays the fundamental contradictions between the promise and the reality of this crucial, formative period in U.S. history.

Stephen Maizlish, University of Texas at Arlington

This collection of essays introduces three white women and twelve white, African American, Native American, or mixed-race men. In accessible prose, each author portrays one or more of these individuals who, in their private lives and public actions, represent life in the freewheeling world of their time. Each illuminates some of the tensions and possibilities of life in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Peter Wallenstein, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

These interesting and well-written essays on some of the lesser-known figures of the antebellum period provide unique and valuable insights into American society. Teachers as well as students will find them useful in developing their understanding and appreciation of the past.

Kenneth R. Steven, Texas Christian University