| Extending insights from contemporary democratic theory to the history of American political thought, this dissertation examines how extremism and fanaticism shaped practices of popular democratic politics during the American Founding era. Focusing on the ways that political actors advocated intractable positions and used passionate, intolerant, and often violent means to resist perceived obstacles to democratic political equality, this project demonstrates that extremism can be a democratic tool when it animates public opinion to resist and remove obstacles to political equality. Concentrating on the discourse of patriotism, zealotry, insurrection, and popular sovereignty surrounding the Boston Massacre and its memorialization, the unrest of Shays's Rebellion, the political thought of Democratic Societies, and American reactions to the French Revolution, this dissertation argues that American democratic theory must rethink how popular democratic politics is conceptualized and address the theoretical question of what role a democratic politics shaped by extremism plays in the democratic life of the American polity. Following this insight, a new appreciation for the role of "extremists" in advancing democratic claims is necessary. |
