The antebellum era is known for being a time of controversy and division leading up to the Civil War. The political atmosphere was unlike what America is experiencing today and has since been heavily debated by historians. Voter turnout seemed to be at an all time high and today’s turnouts pale in comparison. However, the reasoning behind this has yet to be agreed upon. William Gienapp, Altschuler and Blumin, as well as Jon Grinspan have all written comprehensive analyses in attempts to justify the surprisingly high numbers reported at the polls. Out of their three respective essays, William Gienapp’s “Politics Seem to Enter into Everything” presents the strongest argument with all the necessary evidence to support his claims but Altschuler
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Politics became a part of people’s families by involving wives and sisters. It engrained itself in society’s social life by promising celebrations with whiskey and religious-like revivals in return for votes and party loyalty. Americans were suddenly enamored by politics and their heavy involvement proved it. Gienapp’s essay centers around “campaigns…characterized by appeals to the common man, mass meetings, parades, celebrations, and intense enthusiasm…” (15). He uses statistics to validate the large numbers he reports in his claims and leaves no room for doubt by using footnotes to allow readers to see for themselves how his statistics are calculated (Gienapp, 24). Altschuler and Blumin use the same tactic of providing readers with honest notes and disclaimers. Unfortunately, their notes have the opposite effect and actually weaken their defense . Overall, his essay has a concrete argument with concrete evidence to support …show more content…
He primarily focuses on the involvement of the Wide Awakes and how they contributed to the political atmosphere in the antebellum period. The Wide Awakes represented the middle of the voter turnout spectrum (Grinspan, 359). Grinspan uses Gienapp’s analyses as well as Altschuler and Blumin’s as supporting evidence. Gienapp’s essays provide the standard for the high voter turnout argument while Altschuler and Blumin provide the standard for the politically disengaged citizens argument. With those two standards set, Grinspan is able to accurately place his argument in the middle. The Wide Awakes did not value drunken celebrations as incentives to the ballot box like Gienapp characterizes in his analysis nor were they cynical Americans who thought elections and political parties were only for the elites like Altschuler and Blumin suggest (Altschuler and Blumin, 868). Although, they were proof of Gienapp’s claim stating that Americans did not deviate from their parties (Gienapp, 54; Grinspan, 367). The Wide Awakes were proof of Altschuler and Blumin’s claim that party organization mobilized voters as well since the military like tactics of the Wide Awakes was what primarily got voters to get out to the ballot box (Altschuler and Blumin, 868-869; Grinspan,
Politics became a part of people’s families by involving wives and sisters. It engrained itself in society’s social life by promising celebrations with whiskey and religious-like revivals in return for votes and party loyalty. Americans were suddenly enamored by politics and their heavy involvement proved it. Gienapp’s essay centers around “campaigns…characterized by appeals to the common man, mass meetings, parades, celebrations, and intense enthusiasm…” (15). He uses statistics to validate the large numbers he reports in his claims and leaves no room for doubt by using footnotes to allow readers to see for themselves how his statistics are calculated (Gienapp, 24). Altschuler and Blumin use the same tactic of providing readers with honest notes and disclaimers. Unfortunately, their notes have the opposite effect and actually weaken their defense . Overall, his essay has a concrete argument with concrete evidence to support …show more content…
He primarily focuses on the involvement of the Wide Awakes and how they contributed to the political atmosphere in the antebellum period. The Wide Awakes represented the middle of the voter turnout spectrum (Grinspan, 359). Grinspan uses Gienapp’s analyses as well as Altschuler and Blumin’s as supporting evidence. Gienapp’s essays provide the standard for the high voter turnout argument while Altschuler and Blumin provide the standard for the politically disengaged citizens argument. With those two standards set, Grinspan is able to accurately place his argument in the middle. The Wide Awakes did not value drunken celebrations as incentives to the ballot box like Gienapp characterizes in his analysis nor were they cynical Americans who thought elections and political parties were only for the elites like Altschuler and Blumin suggest (Altschuler and Blumin, 868). Although, they were proof of Gienapp’s claim stating that Americans did not deviate from their parties (Gienapp, 54; Grinspan, 367). The Wide Awakes were proof of Altschuler and Blumin’s claim that party organization mobilized voters as well since the military like tactics of the Wide Awakes was what primarily got voters to get out to the ballot box (Altschuler and Blumin, 868-869; Grinspan,