The Jeffersonian Persuasion

"Banning writes in clear, readable fashion. His chapters are compact and lucid, his arguments crisply made. He knows the Jeffersonian literature of the 1790s and the country tradition upon which the Jeffersonians drew. Most importantly, he provides the kind of perspective that makes Jeffersonian argumentation understandable in its own terms. And in the process he tells some important things about the ways in which revolutionary ideology informed political behavior in the early republic."—Journal of American History

"Banning supports his thesis with persuasive arguments, evidence, and a careful definition of the word 'ideology.' . . . In sum, this balanced and judicious book will be welcomed by all scholars of American history as a valuable contribution to our understanding of the nation's formative years."—The Historian

"No library holdings of political party development or the early political history of the nation will be complete without The Jeffersonian Persuasion."—Choice

"Banning records the first stirrings of Jeffersonian Republicanism, an alignment against an alleged threat by proponents of sovereignty and a moneyed aristocracy. His impressive study emphasizes that the final shape of America's stripling government was never a foregone conclusion but was hammered out link by link as Old World political models confronted New World ideologies."—Booklist