Young America

This study examines the meteoric rise and subsequent disintegration of a vigorous American literary-political movement in the 1840s. Calling itself “Young America,” the group found a mouthpiece in “The Democratic Review”, a literary magazine funded by the Democratic Party and edited by the brash and charismatic John O’Sullivan. The Review was not only a major voice in American politics, but also sponsored such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walt Whitman and greatly influenced Herman Melville, before it and Young America faded from the national consciousness after the Mexican-American War.

Author Biography

Edward L. Widmer has taught at Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design, and received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the John Carter Brown Library, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research. He is currently a White House speechwriter and lives in Washington with his wife and son.