American partisanship is as old as the republic itself

ON JANUARY 6TH 2021 a mob stormed the Capitol building in Washington, DC, intending to block certification of the election. Hundreds of people forced their way in, assaulting police officers and chanting “Stop the steal!” Perturbed onlookers across the globe wondered whether the American experiment in democracy had failed.

Disaster was averted that day, but there is still much for Americans to be concerned about, particularly as another election looms in 2024. With trust in institutions shattered, misinformation rampant and citizens often unable to agree on basic facts, the political system is in a perilous state.

But as H. W. Brands reveals in “Founding Partisans”, an account of the early years of the American republic, many of these faultlines were evident at the start. Though the current moment is fraught, political discord is the natural product of a nation not only born in violent revolution, but one whose formative years were marked by factional strife and bitter personal rivalry.

Mr Brands does not portray the Founding Fathers as selfless heroes crafting an ideal system of government. Instead he shows that the men who cobbled together the republic were often small-minded, short-sighted, quarrelsome and willing to put their own ambition ahead of their country’s needs. Yet despite their very human flaws and moral blind spots—their inability to end slavery being the most egregious—they managed to get a lot right through hard work, genuine (if inconsistently applied) patriotism and a good deal of luck.

No sooner was the new nation declared in 1776 than those most responsible were forecasting its imminent demise. During a protest over a new tax on alcoholic spirits in 1791-94, known as the “whisky rebellion”, Alexander Hamilton, the treasury secretary, vowed to crush the protestors: “Civil war is undoubtedly a great evil…But it is incomparably a less evil than the destruction of government.” Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s political rival, was also convinced the republic was in danger. He reckoned Federalists in government were hatching “the plan of sliding us into monarchy”.

Many of the divisions that troubled the founders continue to plague their descendants. Jefferson foreshadowed the rural-urban split of today’s Republican and Democratic parties and critiques of the press. The Federalists “all live in cities, together”, he grumbled, “and can act in a body readily and at all times. They give chief employment to the newspapers, and therefore have most of them under their command.”

To tell this story, Mr Brands quotes his main characters at length. Fortunately the framers were such lively writers that the story rarely flags. For the most part, the strategy succeeds brilliantly, but on occasion the reader may wish the author would step in and adjudicate the merits of their arguments. The Founding Fathers were such masters at character assassination that it can be difficult to extract truth from slander.

Mr Brands begins and ends his book with the election of 1800. That was a contest so nasty, so mired in confusion and corrupted by underhanded dealing that, according to Mr Brands, “the system seemed to have broken down.” Then calmer heads prevailed. The Federalists gave up the fight, and Jefferson was sworn in as the third president of the United States. Those nervously anticipating the aftermath of next year’s can take solace from history. ■