Table of Contents

Introduction Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle 1. The Dilemmas of Ruling Elites in Revolutionary America Gary J. Kornblith and John M. Murrin 2. The "Slave Power" in the United States, 1783-1865 Adam Rothman 3. Merchants and Manufacturers in the Antebellum North Sven Beckert 4. Gilded Age Gospels David Nasaw 5. The Abortive Rule of Big Money Alan Dawley 6. The Managerial Revitalization of the Rich Jackson Lears 7. The Foreign Policy Establishment Godfrey Hodgson 8. Conservative Elites and the Counterrevolution against the New Deal Michael Lind Coda: Democracy in America Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle Notes Acknowledgments Contributors Index

Promotional Information

One of the enduring mysteries of American politics, from the days of the Constitutional convention to the Bush administration, has been how, in a democracy, wealthy elites have managed to exert a powerful influence on public life. In this book, some of our finest historians address this question and in so doing offer a host of new insights into our national past and present. Class is the feature of American life that dares not speak its name, but these essays go a long way toward explaining how it operates in American politics. -- Eric Foner, De Witt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University This is a powerful set of essays on a sorely neglected subject: the history of the American elite in a world it has come to dominate. U.S. society has become less egalitarian in recent years, and Fraser and Gerstle's polished and provocative anthology helps explain how it got that way. -- Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History Ruling America is a splendid collection of superbly written essays which probe the nature and importance of inequality in income and power over a 250 year period of American history. It succeeds in reintroducing concepts like "ruling class," "elite" and "establishment" into our political and historical vocabulary. It is an impressive accomplishment. -- Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara

About the Author

Steve Fraser is a writer and historian living in New York. Gary Gerstle is Paul Mellon Professor of American History, Cambridge University.

Reviews

Undoubtedly, Ruling America provides valuable insight into historical periods that trace the growing power of an elite ruling class, but perhaps its true value lies in the questions the narrative prompts about the balance of power in the world’s most powerful nation… A pertinent reference for scholars in the fields of business, economic and political history. For business historians in particular, this book provides a solid foundation to explore the machinations of big business and government inside America’s ruling class in the context of a triumphant agenda.
*Business History*

One of the enduring mysteries of American politics, from the days of the Constitutional convention to the Bush administration, has been how, in a democracy, wealthy elites have managed to exert a powerful influence on public life. In this book, some of our finest historians address this question and in so doing offer a host of new insights into our national past and present. Class is the feature of American life that dares not speak its name, but these essays go a long way toward explaining how it operates in American politics.
*Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University*

This is a powerful set of essays on a sorely neglected subject: the history of the American elite in a world it has come to dominate. U.S. society has become less egalitarian in recent years, and Fraser and Gerstle’s polished and provocative anthology helps explain how it got that way.
*Michael Kazin, author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History*

Ruling America is a splendid collection of superbly written essays that probe the nature and importance of inequality in income and power over a 250-year period of American history. It succeeds in reintroducing concepts like ‘ruling class,’ ‘elite,’ and ‘establishment’ into our political and historical vocabulary. It is an impressive accomplishment.
*Nelson Lichtenstein, University of California, Santa Barbara*