Beyond the Founders

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The book Beyond the Founders emphasizes, “the gap between national, political history and social history” (p.2). These essays look beyond the political leaders to the larger landscape of the rest of the population as a whole. They are not looking only at the top level leaders to define the history of this era, they are looking at the range of the population in the shaping of American history as is also seen in the book, Slavery’s Capitalism. Despite the language of the Declaration of Independence and the words in the Constitution, defining the rights of people in general and citizens specifically, it is clear in this collection of essays that political equality and social recognition changed continuously as society changed over time.  The citizens’ public lives were continuously shaping the politics of this era. The politicians were formulating and writing one version of the history of this era, while the populace was influencing and writing another history, as these two groups were bound together politically, economically, and socially. Each essay is immediately followed by notes on sources used in the research that informed the author’s opinion, in bibliographic style.

Slaves freed in the North were being allowed to practice capitalism, which gave them some political relevancy; however, they still were not socially seen as peers in white society. Blacks in the North, while free, were not equal. They were not able to vote although they practiced capitalism, which increased their economic freedom, but not their social or political freedom. The ideology that made this kind of racism acceptable can be seen in Chapter 3, which explains how even at the level of clothing worn, blacks were not permitted to encroach on the social norms of the white population by even so much as dressing like whites.  Abolitionist Quaker, John Woolman characterized this as “a technology for naturalizing racism and slavery,” even before the nation was form (p.92). This argument over the political and social status of blacks and slaves was taking place at the general level of society. There were those in the population who were trying to influence the top level politicians, and when they could not influence, they fought back in different ways, through political speech and actions such as changing the political landscape by helping women and blacks become more independent economically through textile and clothing production. Some white citizens of the North were already making slavery and racism part of the political debate by their action at the socioeconomic level. Woolman’s view influenced the political debate despite that fact that he probably did not represent the norm in society at that time, but his influence can be seen in the Frederick Douglass dolls, which depict Douglass before slavery with no shoes and wearing cast-off clothing of his master, and as a free man dressed in a tuxedo, like the best of white European society. Chapter 3 further illustrates the dichotomy within the society at that time which can even be seen in Jefferson’s expressed thoughts and his actions, politically and socially. Men and women had highly defined positions in the society: men governed the world and women governed the home, while and slaves and freed blacks had no place in that society (p.95). Blacks were free in the North to be industrious, and Jefferson, in fact, encouraged self-sufficiency of the citizens, but black ex-slaves being self-sufficient was a different story. Jefferson did not support even the industry of his own slave, and in fact, demeaned their efforts. Despite the ideal that all the men were created equal, Jefferson doesn’t accept equality for women or blacks socially or politically and society as a whole at that time agreed with his social position. Social life as it related to the desire to gain political acknowledgment, power, and influence can also be seen in Chapter 4 and 5.

Every Chapter expresses how the social level spills over into the political realm, attempting to influence politics and gain power for individual groups. This book represents a demonstration of the influence of the politically less powerful citizens at the grassroots level to effect change that might not be written into the history at the top levels.

Because blacks fought for the Union during the Civil War they wore the U.S. insignia that all soldiers wore. This led to Frederick Douglass’ argument that blacks had the right to the citizenship as they fought for the same purpose as white soldiers. Clothes were the visual image of the equality and had an impact on politics shows that history was not written just by the elites in the society. This is reflected as well in Closer to Freedom where the author portrays freedom for slaves through their clothing during the parties, unaware that to their enslavers that this represented their freedom. Fascinating how the notion of clothing defining social status still exist today and is an expression of political power in many circles.