Publisher's Synopsis
Between the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781 and Andrew Jackson's retirement from the presidency in 1837, a generation of Americans acted out a great debate over the nature of the national character and the future political, economic and religious course of the country.;Jeremiah Evarts (1781-1831) and many others saw the debate as a battle over the soul of America. Alarmed and disturbed by the brashness of Jacksonian democracy, they feared that the still-young ideal of a stable, cohesive, deeply principled republic was under attack by the forces of individualism, liberal capitalism, expansionism, and a zealous blend of virtue and religiousity.;A missionary, reformer and activist, Evarts was a central figure of neo-Calvinism in the early American republic. An intellectual and spiritual heir to the founding fathers and a forebear of American Victorianism, Evarts is best remembered today as the stalwart opponent of Andrew Jackson's Indian policies - specifically the removal of Cherokees from the southeast.;This study of Evarts is based primarily on readings of Evarts' personal and family papers, religious periodicals, records of missionary and benevolent organizations, and government documents related to Indian affairs. It is also a portrait of the society that shaped - and was shaped by - Evarts' beliefs and principles.
