Parades and the Politics of the Street: Festive Culture in the Early American Republic.

Myerly, Scott Hughes

By Simon P. Newman (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. xiv plus 271pp. $39.95).

This book treats public political events in America between 1788 and Jefferson's election in 1800, including parades and other open air occasions, as well as accompanying festivities and trappings, including dinners, the raising of liberty poles, ceremonial toastings, songs, badges, etc., with special attention given to the role of various non-elites in these festivities. This transitional era is especially important; festivity represents a significant reflection of public opinion, and from it emerges "a shared symbolic and ritual language of political expression" (p. 186) that sets much of the tone and pattern for both party machines and the more genuinely egalitarian politicizing by non-professional citizens. In this way, ordinary Americans showed "the full potential of the age of democratic revolution" (p. 189) by propelling "the politics of the street into the mainstream of American politics." (p. 192) They thus forged a new political tradition, and a full appreciation of these origins is essential for understanding political power in the U.S., especially in regard to the now established two-party system. But this pattern also resulted in the "public acceptance of hegemony" (p. 190) which was to be wielded later by the emergent political parties that adopted these tactics to promote their own agendas.

The primary celebrations treated include Washington's birthday, the French revolution, and the neglected - yet most significant - Fourth of July. In examining the popularity of these events, which were frequently contested by the two major political factions, Federalists and Anti-federalists, Newman shows that ordinary Americans, and even marginalized groups as the poor, women and Blacks, publicly asserted their own views, even in modest ways such as wearing cockades (the original political button), singing political songs, feasting, and enacting the important social ceremony of public toasting. These activities laid the basis for later action by such groups as Blacks and women, who found further encouragement in the Haitian revolution and Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman, both of which inspired demands for basic human rights.

Newman presents impressive, abundant evidence from newspaper descriptions, yet the structure of such street organization remains vague; this is a significant point in an era which was still very much characterized by traditional patterns of deference. A major unanswered question is the "We" in "We the People;" how were the groups organized that fashioned these popular events, what interests did they serve, and what agendas did they represent? These celebrations were largely local events that focused on the participants' economic interests of trade and work, blending socializing and entertainment as an organizational basis for political activity, and this study should thus be as much concerned with the circumstances of such local interest groups as with the spectacles that they fashioned.

Newman notes but does not explore the heavily martial character of such events; militia parades, reviews, etc., were a standard feature and provided entertainment, yet also displayed naked force. This role is specially significant, considering the recurrent - and frequent - non-professional institutional organizing for war that characterized the era 1754 to 1800. Control of the streets for such events might literally depend on the threat of coercion, and many warlike trappings were likewise used by paraders. These factors, together with the concept that a "loyal opposition" was considered illegitimate by many - including the less-than-brilliant Washington - renders this marital aspect a factor of major significance in the Federalist "age of terror." (p. 109) It is most significant that during an era when Americans feared standing armies, Washington was depicted wearing military uniform on a proposed copper penny, and President Adams wore a military uniform when politicking in 1798. All this raises the intriguing question as to how the martial structure and mindset of militia/volunteer organization - however informal its actual workings - influenced the development of the American party machine and its methods (which the War of 1812 would have further intensified).

Newman does note that in this context of political intolerance, events staged by Anti-Federalists might be shaped to oppose the administration, while the patriotic character of these occasions could confound Federalist objections against "disloyalty." But given the "paramount importance" (p. 44) of Washington and the carefully cultivated and successfully promoted regal image of the High Federalist "quasi-royal political culture," (p. 50) it seems odd that the earlier notion that he should be made America's first monarch is not mentioned. Nor is there treatment of the significant phenomenon of the adoption by Congress of pompous, Ancien Regime-style parliamentary customs and practices, particularly in the Senate.

Despite these points, the newspaper bibliography is impressive, and Newman is to be commended for including political rhetoric as a subject; but the work would have been aided by examining Andrew W. Robertson, The Language of Democracy: Political Rhetoric in the United States and Britain, 1790-1900 (Ithaca: Cornell, 1995). Another focus that could have strengthened this book would have been a more in-depth analysis of the use of parody in parades and related cultural forms. There is also a tendency toward unnecessary repetition, and too many speculative phrases, like "it is far from unreasonable to assume," (p. 183) "may well have" (p. 156) and "it is more than likely that," (p. 73) implying an absence of evidence for the claims being made. This book generally should have more substance; it compares less favorably with David Waldstreicher's In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes: The Making of American Nationalism, 1776-1820 (Williamsburg, VA, 1997), or Susan Davis' Parades and Power: Street Theatre in Nineteenth Century Philadelphia (Berkeley, 1986). Yet the Conclusion is strong and insightful, attaining a quality of insight on par with these two latter books, and Parades and the Politics of the Street features cultural themes that connect with and will enrich the histories of entertainment, dress, and pleasure, and those of political, military and social institutions. As with most works based upon substantial research, this study's value lies in its evidence which provides significant information on a major subject, adding to a proliferating body of literature which is posing questions of much greater relevance to the meaning(s) of the American pattern of politics.

Scott Hughes Myerly Los Angeles, CA