The Jay Treaty Debate, Public Opinion, and the Evolution of Early American Political Culture (Political Development of the American Nation: Studies in Politics and History) Paperback – September 10, 2008

This book bills itself not as an analysis of the actual development and drafting of the Jay Treaty, but rather a critique of the battle for ratification. This battle consisted of speeches, newspaper commentaries, popular petitions, and the end result was a new dynamic in American political culture. Both parties, the Republicans and Federalists had preconceived notions about popular opinion, but throughout the nearly year long debate over the treaty, these same convicitions changed dramatically. For instance, the Federalists did not feel comfortable shedding their elite image of wise, benevolent politicians working for the common good (but with little direct contact with the people, while the Republicans openly courted popular opinion only to have those same popular opinions ultimately come down for the treaty's approval.Through it all, the real winners of the battle, besides the treaty's ratification, was the Constitution and George Washington. The Constitution survived and actually grew stronger as a result of the influx of popular petitions and public displays of support for the treaty. It also grew as a result of the loyal opposition to the treaty. George Washington's reputation for conservative order eventually won the day, though even Washington disagreed with the tactics of the Federalists, who preached the inevitablility of war with Great Britain if the treaty was not apporved and funded. Out of respect for Washington, the majority of the Senate ratified the treaty (by the strictest two-thirds majority), while the House, by one vote voted for appropriations.This book shines new light on the treaty for many of us who learned of all of the protests against the Treaty. Nowhere in the book is John Jay burned in effigy, though oddly enough the paperback edition of the book shows just such an event on the book's cover. Rather, by the time the treaty appropriation vote came, at least according to the author, the whole country had rallied in favor of the treaty. Still, the close votes in both the House and Senate lead one to conclude it was not nearly as cut and dried as the author presents.This book is well written, well researched, and is a very good book on its limited topic. There are seven chapters, five covering the author's main themes (petitions, oratory, essays for and against the treaty), one on the outcome, and the final chapter that put all of the collective efforts of both sides in their proper perspectives. Students of the early American republic will find much inthis book that will shed new insights into this first great diplomatic test of the Constitution. Since this topic is not well known among so-called "history buffs" it will likely remain the standard text on this topic for some time to come.

I ordered this book because I was doing a research paper on the negotiation behind the Jay Treaty. As the title should have led me to guess, there wasn't a whole heck of a lot of that in the book. HOWEVER, this book was an absolutely delightful read and I couldn't put it down, even though I only needed the first 34 pages.It's interesting to learn how little the great issues we debate in American politics have changed since the formation of our nation.