The American Civil War in the Shaping of British Democracy - 9781138376182

Taylor & Francis

Brent E. Kinser explores the presence of the American Civil War in the writings of British intellectuals such as Thomas Carlyle, Anthony Trollope, Walter Bagehot, and John Stuart Mill, all of whom engaged in the debates surrounding democracy's viability as a foundation for modern governance. Kinser focuses on the period from the outbreak of war in 1861 to the reform of 1867, which helped to secure a democratic future for Britain. > When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, a central question for British intellectuals was whether or not the American conflict was proof of the viability of democracy as a foundation for modern governance. The lessons of the American Civil War for Britain would remain a focal point in the debate on democracy throughout the war up to the suffrage reform of 1867, and after. Brent E. Kinser considers four figures connected by Woodrow Wilson's concept of the \""Literary Politician,\"" a person who, while possessing a profound knowledge of politics combi.