Indivisible
Daniel Webster and the Birth of American Nationalism
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Narrated by:
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Fred Sanders
About this listen
The story of how Daniel Webster popularized the ideals of American nationalism that helped forge our nation’s identity and inspire Abraham Lincoln to preserve the Union
When the United States was founded in 1776, its citizens didn’t think of themselves as “Americans.” They were New Yorkers or Virginians or Pennsylvanians. It was decades later that the seeds of American nationalism—identifying with one’s own nation and supporting its broader interests—began to take root. But what kind of nationalism should Americans embrace? The state-focused and racist nationalism of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson? Or the belief that the US Constitution made all Americans one nation, indivisible, which Daniel Webster and others espoused?
In Indivisible, historian and law professor Joel Richard Paul tells the fascinating story of how Webster, a young New Hampshire attorney turned politician, rose to national prominence through his powerful oratory and unwavering belief in the United States and captured the national imagination. In his speeches, on the floors of the House and Senate, in court, and as Secretary of State, Webster argued that the Constitution was not a compact made by states but an expression of the will of all Americans. As the greatest orator of his age, Webster saw his speeches and writings published widely, and his stirring rhetoric convinced Americans to see themselves differently, as a nation bound together by a government of laws, not parochial interests. As these ideas took root, they influenced future leaders, among them Abraham Lincoln, who drew on them to hold the nation together during the Civil War.
As he did in Without Precedent and Unlikely Allies, Joel Richard Paul has written in Indivisible both a compelling history and a fascinating account of one of the founders of our national perspective.
©2022 Joel Richard Paul (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Extraordinary!
- By Cynthia M. Suprenant on 12-23-19
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Prejudential
- Black America and the Presidents
- By: Margaret Kimberley
- Narrated by: Margaret Kimberley
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Prejudential is a concise, authoritative exploration of America’s relationship with race and Black Americans through the lens of the presidents who have been elected to represent all of its people.
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Some things never change
- By jeffrey W on 12-30-22
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Lincoln's Mentors
- The Education of a Leader
- By: Michael J. Gerhardt
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A novel and brilliant look at how Abraham Lincoln mastered the art of leadership: acclaimed historian Michael J. Gerhardt, who appeared during the impeachment proceedings of President Trump, reveals how a group of five men mentored an obscure lawyer with no executive experience to become American’s greatest leader
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Interesting book
- By Brian on 03-07-21
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Franklin & Washington
- The Founding Partnership
- By: Edward J. Larson
- Narrated by: Andrew Tell
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Today the United States is the world’s great superpower, and yet we also wrestle with the government Franklin and Washington created more than two centuries ago - the power of the executive branch, the principle of checks and balances, the electoral college - as well as the wounds of their compromise over slavery. Now, as the founding institutions appear under new stress, it is time to understand their origins through the fresh lens of Larson’s Franklin & Washington, a major addition to the literature of the founding era.
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Two together, written about at same time
- By fair & balanced on 03-28-21
By: Edward J. Larson
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Fears of a Setting Sun
- The Disillusionment of America's Founders
- By: Dennis C. Rasmussen
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Americans seldom deify their Founding Fathers any longer, but they do still tend to venerate the Constitution and the republican government that the founders created. Strikingly, the founders themselves were far less confident in what they had wrought, particularly by the end of their lives. In fact, most of them - including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson - came to deem America's constitutional experiment an utter failure that was unlikely to last beyond their own generation.
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A different perspective on the founders
- By kpa on 03-04-24
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Founding Fathers
- A Captivating Guide to Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and James Monroe
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Desmond Manny, Jason R. Gray, David Patton, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Explore the captivating lives of the Founding Fathers. Eight captivating manuscripts in one audiobook. So if you want to learn more about the life of Founding Fathers, get this audiobook now!
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filled with inaccuracies
- By Eben on 04-13-22
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American Republics
- A Continental History of the United States 1783-1850
- By: Alan Taylor
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In this beautifully written history of America’s formative period, a preeminent historian upends the traditional story of a young nation confidently marching to its continent-spanning destiny.
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Helps the dots of history to today.
- By Tascha F. on 06-26-21
By: Alan Taylor
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Don't Know Much About the Civil War
- Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned
- By: Kenneth C. Davis
- Narrated by: Dick Estell
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of Americans, bored by dull textbooks, are in the dark about the most significant event in our history. Now New York Times bestselling author Kenneth C. Davis comes to the rescue, deftly sorting out the players, the politics, and the key events—Emancipation and Reconstruction, Shiloh and Gettysburg, Generals Grant and Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe—and much more.
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Good Civil War book
- By Steven on 08-04-12
By: Kenneth C. Davis
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents, Part 1
- From Washington to Taft
- By: Larry Schweikart
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Back by popular demand, the bestselling Politically Incorrect Guides provide an unvarnished, unapologetic overview of the topics every American needs to know. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents, Part 1 profiles America’s early presidents, from George Washington to William Howard Taft.
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Ruining History to Own the Libs
- By Dee on 11-11-20
By: Larry Schweikart
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The American Experiment
- By: James MacGregor Burns
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 88 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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James MacGregor Burns’s stunning trilogy of American history, spanning the birth of the Constitution to the final days of the Cold War. In these three volumes, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner James MacGregor Burns chronicles with depth and narrative panache the most significant cultural, economic, and political events of American history.
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American History ABCs
- By Michael on 06-16-15
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The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution: 1763-1789
- By: Robert Middlekauff
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to appear in the illustrious Oxford History of the United States, this critically-acclaimed volume - a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize - offers an unsurpassed history of the Revolutionary War and the birth of the American republic.
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Strong History Rich With Behind The Scenes Details
- By John on 10-06-11
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What listeners say about Indivisible
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- Charles
- 11-28-22
Daniel Webster
Interesting to see that nationalism was an important element for public schools education. This included memorizing portions of Daniel Webster’s famous speeches. The extremes of the democratic and republican party would benefit from his wisdom.
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- Shopaholic
- 03-28-23
Fascinating and well written
This is a terrific American history book, and it’s very well produced as an audible book. It goes into many fascinating subjects about early 19th century American political history, all while staying interesting and plot driven. I think Joel Paul is one of the very best current popular historians, with a gift for narrative and character development, along with some serious points to make.
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1 person found this helpful
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- William C. Robinson
- 04-13-23
BAN THIS BOOK
As a kid growing up in new have ct, my family had some poster with all the presidents, I can remember look at these guys thinking they must have been wonderful fellows. Harrison, Adams, Fillmore, Tyler, Jackson, i can see them now and remember the ignorance i suffered. Clearly i wasn't that interested because if I was I would have known more about these southern slave masters and how they didn't really believe in anything but maintaining their supremacy. This work is so upsetting in a lot of ways, because this anti woke movement seeks to hide the truth told herein. Joel has laid it out and put all the truth before the world claerly and concisely. For all Webster's oratory skills, his sacrifice of the slaves is indivisible from hypocrisy. I hope more people will read this book as the story is quite well done and needs to a part pf critical race theory to be sure!
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- ael
- 06-14-23
Timely
Timely
History recycles with the players having different names
Amazing the Republic endures considering the quality of many we chose to lead us
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- BobMichael
- 12-02-24
author's leftwing distortions
good statistic, important theme, some very bad judgements regarding the law that is supposedly his specialty.
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- Richard Wayne Feller
- 02-05-23
Author very biased
I've read a lot on this period of history--one of my favorites periods. This author presented an anti-American, biased and one-sided view of the period. I especially resented his introduction. H.W. Brands', "The Heirs of the Founders" is the best book I've listened to that covers the same material. For example, most all people would agree that the Trail of Tears was a terrible event in our history (as well as slavery, of course). Brands discusses the subjects in much greater detail trying to show all sides to the issue. If you are a Liberal, you will like this book. I did not. The narration was professional and enjoyable.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Patrick Macdonnell
- 12-12-22
Biased and Unfocused
A biased, vapid, and meandering book that neither enlightens nor informs about the supposed subject; Daniel Webster. The author clearly thinks that the reader is more interested in his thoroughly unoriginal and banal commentary, than the historical figure on the cover. Even the thesis of the book is sloppily conceived and poorly articulated. A tour de force in how not to write a history book—or any book for that matter.
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6 people found this helpful