A STUDY OF HENRY ADAMS' 'HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES'

Henry Adams' History of the United States During the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison is probably the greatest American History written by an American, and deserves to be considered along with such historical classics as Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Macaulay's History of England. While it has influenced almost every subsequent study of Jefferson and Madison as well as of events during the period 1800-1817, it is no longer widely read or studied. This dissertation argues that the History has a great deal to tell modern readers both about events during this period and about the nature of historical truth and historical research. It also argues that the widely praised literary qualities of Adams' History are inseparable from its historical value.;In Part II, specific subjects from the History are studied. My purpose here is not just to understand Adams' interpretations of particular subjects, but also to show how Adams combined a thorough knowledge of all available documents with such literary techniques as controlled use of varying points of view, a sense of irony, and an elegant narrative style to create the History. The introductory and concluding chapters of the History are studied to explain the overall structure of the work as well as to present Adams' major themes, the rise of democracy and the end of the age of statesmen, and the creation of a unified nation and a national character. Jefferson and the embargo are analyzed to show how Adams depicted character. Madison and the War of 1812 are discussed in order to recognize the role that Adams gave to the individual in history. The chapter of diplomacy is a detailed study of how Adams used historical documents both to ascertain the "facts" as well as to question the reliability of such documents and to ask whether "historical truth" is ultimately knowable. Congress is analyzed in order to understand Adams' attitudes towards democracy and representative government, while the chapter on the declaration of war is included to show the integral relationship between the overall form and content of the History. Chapter 12 is a study of Adams' treatment of the New England opposition to the embargo and war, as well as a study of the way two contemporary historians of the subject have treated Adams' account. "Fate, Fortune, Chance and Laws of History" deals with the various theories of historical causality Adams suggested, emphasizing that there are no grounds for arguing that the History is based upon scientific laws. The concluding chapter discusses the critical fate of the History, giving special attention to the erroneous scientific interpretations of the History.;Part I of the dissertation includes a brief biography of Henry Adams. It also treats aspects of the historiographical background to the History and some of the influences on it. The debated question of when Adams decided to write the History is next considered. Most important, for the first time there is a full study of how Adams did the research for and wrote the History. This was made possible by the generosity of the editors of the Letters of Henry Adams, who made the letters available to me prior to publication.