In his book, The Nation Takes Shape, Marcus Cunliffe outlines what he calls a half a century of immense progress. He focuses in on the period of time from after the Constitution is drafted to the end of Andrew Jackson's presidency. (1789-1837). In his book he outlines the major events pertaining to the evolution of our newly independent country. He illustrates the steps that the nation took in becoming America and establishing themselves as a free country where democracy reigns. Throughout this book Cunliffe breaks down the emergence of America into six distinct evolutionary processes: The national government, our foreign relations, the expansion of the west, the growth of the economy, the expanding sectional rifts which formed the basis for the civil war, and finally the growth of a more equal democracy. Cunliffe illustrates these points as the way, The Nation Takes Shape.

Cunliff first talks about the origin and growth of partisan politics. In doing so, he outlines the process by which the constitution was to be interpreted by the American people. The vagueness of the document led to disputes between various factions of people who interpreted it in different ways. The initial s

The immerging nationalism, in conflict with sectional rifts in America is the next topic that Cunliffe writes on. After the signing of the constitution, Americans started building national pride. Popular Symbols were adopted by Americans, and became an important piece of American life. As America started gaining world power, the momentum of these symbols started to increase. But while people were proud to be Americans, inside the country, sectional rifts were growing. These sectional rifts were the ones that led to the Civil War. Differences between northerners and southerners stemmed from the geography of their respective states. In the south, cotton was the most important crop, and slaves were used to harvest it; while in the north it was more industrialized and slavery was not permitted. Thus the slavery question was added to the already growing sectional conflict. Another factor was the uneven distribution of wealth and national power. The north seemed to control most of this while the south was neglected. These rising controversies were the beginning of a split in the Union.

The final topic in Cunliffe's book is the growth of a more equally balanced country. He shows the change made in America in Jackson's time. Andrew Jackson was a man of the people, and he strongly was against a class system and an aristocracy. Jackson was a common man, and stood up for the common people. His actions were all to push for a government that acted within the limits of the Constitution. That is showing nationalism by only allowing the government to do what the people have given it powered to do. He also did what was in his power to better the common man in the economy. His actions were what became known as Jacksonian Democracy.

plit happened around 1790 when the first bank of the United States was given a twenty-two year charter. This struggle was caused by Thomas Jefferson (a democratic-republican), who believed in strict constructionism, and Alexander, Hamilton (a Federalist) who believed in loose constructionism. Jefferson said that the constitution did not give any provision for the US to have a bank because it was not spelled out in the constitution. But Hamilton using the premise of implied powers said it did because it gave them the power to lay and collect taxes, borrow money, and regulate

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Approximate Word count = 1553
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)