Chapter XLII: 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