In 1795; New Orleans was a sleepy outpost at the edge of Spain's American empire. By the 1820s; it was teeming with life; its levees packed with cotton and sugar. New Orleans had become the unquestioned urban capital of the antebellum South. Looking at this remarkable period filled with ideological struggle; class politics; and powerful personalities; Building the Land of Dreams is the narrative biography of a fascinating city at the most crucial turning point in its history.Eberhard Faber tells the vivid story of how American rule forced New Orleans through a vast transition: from the ordered colonial world of hierarchy and subordination to the fluid; unpredictable chaos of democratic capitalism. The change in authority; from imperial Spain to Jeffersonian America; transformed everything. As the city’s diverse people struggled over the terms of the transition; they built the foundations of a dynamic; contentious hybrid metropolis. Faber describes the vital individuals who played a role in New Orleans history: from the wealthy creole planters who dreaded the influx of revolutionary ideas; to the American arrivistes who combined idealistic visions of a new republican society with selfish dreams of quick plantation fortunes; to Thomas Jefferson himself; whose powerful democratic vision for Louisiana eventually conflicted with his equally strong sense of realpolitik and desire to strengthen the American union.Revealing how New Orleans was formed by America’s greatest impulses and ambitions; Building the Land of Dreams is an inspired exploration of one of the world’s most iconic cities.
#530899 in Books 2014-06-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.40 x 1.60 x 5.50l; 1.99 #File Name: 0691161283880 pages
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. The lesser revolutionsBy Benjamin TrovatoThis is a reprint of the first two volumes of a longer work that was never completed. Many people have compared the French and American Revolutions. Palmer had the wit to see these as the most extreme parts of a larger process taking place in the West as a whole. There were other near-revolutions and other similar political contests that did not go to completion. These need to be part of any comparative study. He implicitly rejects the simple monarchy-aristocracy-democracy model. Real power was in the hands of landowners; rich merchants and officials. Their power was exercised through many institutions that were complex; traditional and local. Above them were kings who sought to impose uniform laws and below them less powerful men who wanted more power. The common people only appear when they riot. The men of the enlightenment appear as advisors to kings; propagandists for those out of power and free-floating thinkers and politicians who seized power then they could. Palmer spends so much time discussing that he sometimes loses track of the history of events which it the necessary basis for any interpretation. Because he confines himself to a few decades he cannot explain why the changes happened when and where they did. It is useful to be reminded of the lesser revolutions.0 of 6 people found the following review helpful. A massive tome with some errors and he conveniently leaves ...By Ethan G.A massive tome with some errors and he conveniently leaves out women. But on the whole; he was doing Atlantic history before it was a thing.
