Markus Hünemörder

The Society of the Cincinnati (eBook, PDF)

Conspiracy and Distrust in Early America

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

In 1783, the officers of the Continental Army created the Society of the Cincinnati. This veterans' organization was founded in order to preserve the memory of the revolutionary struggle and pursue the officers' common interest in outstanding pay and pensions. Henry Knox and Frederick Steuben were the society's chief organizers; George Washington himself served as president. Soon, however, a widely distributed pamphlet by Aedanus Burke of South Carolina accused the Society of conspiracy. According to Burke, the Society of the Cincinnati was nothing less than a hereditary nobility which would subvert American republicanism into aristocracy. Soon, more critics including John Adams and Elbridge Gerry joined the fray, claiming among other things that the Society was a secret government for the United States or a puppet of the French monarchy. While these accusations were unjustified, they played an important role in the difficult political debates of the 1780s, including the efforts to revise the Articles of Confederation. This books explores why a part of the revolutionary leadership accused another of subversion in the "critical period," and how the political culture of the times predisposed many leading Americans to think of the Cincinnati as a conspiracy.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Berghahn Books
• Seitenzahl: 220
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Februar 2006
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781789204261
• Artikelnr.: 63362767

Autorenporträt

Markus Hünemörder teaches American history at the University of Munich. He was the first recipient of the Kade-Heideking fellowship administered by the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Society of the Cincinnati and the Confederation Period
* Notes
Chapter 1. The Price of Peace: The Creation of the Society of the
Cincinnati
* Problems of Supply and Pay
* Pensions, Commutation, and Congressional Finances
* The Newburgh Crisis
* Founding the Society of the Cincinnati
* Notes
Chapter 2. A Political Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: The Accusations Against
the Society of the Cincinnati
* A Chronology of Fear
* A French Blessing
* Patricians of America
* King George IV
* The Shadow Government
* Thieves of Memory
* Notes
Chapter 3. The Wicked and Traitorous Fabrication: The Society of the
Cincinnati Controversy and the Constitution
* Commutation: Obstacle to Constitutional Reform
* Fears of Cincinnati Influence over Constitutional Reform
* Convention and Ratification
* The New Republic
* Notes
Chapter 4. One Society of Friends: Reactions of the Society of the
Cincinnati
* The Cincinnati on the Defensive
* A Society Reformed
* A Reform Rejected
* The Impact of a Failed Reform
* Notes
Chapter 5. Was It All True? The Politics of the Society of the Cincinnati
* Monarchy
* Nobility
* Western Lands
* Shays's Rebellion
* Constitutional Reform
* Cincinnati Politics under a Federalist Government
* Cincinnati in the Military
* Outstanding Pay and Pensions
* Notes
Chapter 6. Between Two Revolutions: The "Order of the Cincinnati" in France
* A French Connection
* A Threat to Republicanism or to Monarchy?
* Jacobins and Cincinnati
* Notes
Chapter 7. Guardians of the Republic: The Critics of the Society of the
Cincinnati
* Elbridge Gerry
* Aedanus Burke
* Benjamin Gale
* Eccentricities and Convictions
* Notes
Chapter 8. Republican Fears and Confusions: The Cincinnati Controversy in
Context
* The Fear of a Standing Army
* The Jealousy of Power
* The Problem of Equality
* Economic Depression and Political Crisis
* Notes
Conclusion: Political Paranoia and the Cincinnati Controversy
* Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index