Publisher's Synopsis
The American Democrat: Or, Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America, a political essay written by American republican author James Fenimore Cooper, was published initially in New York State in 1838. Originally intended as a textbook on the American republican democracy, the work analyzes the social forces that shape, and can ultimately corrupt such a system.It served as an indictment of public opinion, which he argued had the potential to corrupt public morals and democracy. Because The American Democrat did not intrigue the public like a novel would have, it was neither purchased in the United States nor published in Europe. The essay, however, provided the intellectual framework and concepts for two later works of fiction: Homeward Bound: or The Chase: A Tale of the Sea and Home as Found: Sequel to Homeward Bound. Unlike his previous work where he set out to create American literature, this essay is credited with helping Cooper to establish a new identity as a writer as one who exposed the vices in society.PersonalThe American Democrat arose out of three major events in Cooper's life. The first was his experience abroad. Cooper had lived in Europe - mainly in Paris- between 1826 and 1833. This experience, according to Cooper, helped him become "a foreigner in his own country,"[3] allowing him to "present to the reader those opinions that are suited to the actual condition of the country, [rather] than to dwell on principles more general."[4]The American Democrat also arose out of the Three Mile Point dispute, which ended on July 22, 1837. This controversy began when the people of his hometown, Cooperstown, trespassed onto his property, using it as a picnic ground. After Cooper's publication of a notice about trespassing on his land, the citizens and the press of Cooperstown organized a protest against him. Attacks by the Whig newspapers continued even after Cooper had proved his ownership of that piece of property.[5] This occurrence led Cooper to write about the role of property rights in America, "giv[ing] universal meaning" to the dispute.[6]The final event in Cooper's life that influenced his message in The American Democrat was his experience with libel lawsuits. His struggles with the Whig press, who had published libelous statements about him, escalated between 1837 and 1838.Ideological and Social ContextIn Cooper's mind, the divine, moral, natural, and civil laws were intertwined. Influenced by John Locke and Alexander Pope, he believed that natural law was "the will of God's providence operating in nature according to observable principles,"[7] such as property rights, deism, and biblical truth. These views were further influenced by the philosophies of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison. Their ideas led him to believe that is necessary to protect the entire country from man's inherently self-serving nature.The political situation in the late 1830s made Cooper feel as though the true nature of civil law and government was being disregarded. Hence, by 1838, "the troubles created by legislative usurpation, demagoguery, rotation in office, and leveling to mediocrity had, in Cooper's view, reached such a point that he longed to curb the exercise of individual liberty that he equally longed to maintain..."..James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 - September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances draw a picture of frontier and American Indian life in the early American days which created a unique form of American literature.
