Libmonster ID: U.S.-1916
Author(s) of the publication: V. V. SOGRIN

L. Nauka. 1983. 287 p.

The reviewed book, written by V. A. Ushakov, a senior researcher at the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Soviet History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Candidate of Historical Sciences, is one of the few monographic studies of an important stage of early American history in our historiography. Previous works by Soviet historians devoted to this period (which, by the way, were also published in the early 1980s) revealed the role of the farmers ' movement and the struggle of political parties and groups in post-revolutionary America. 1 V. A. Ushakov focused on the still unexplored or controversial issues of US history in the 1790s; the formation of the foundations of the state the structure and bureaucracy of the young republic, the agrarian problem, trade and industrial policy, the division of labor, and discussions in American society, and especially at its highest levels, on foreign policy issues.

V. A. Ushakov's research is based on a solid and thoroughly studied source base: materials of the Congress, the government and the Supreme Court of the United States, the latest publications of political figures ' papers, and other documentary publications. Almost all research on this topic is involved. The author is well acquainted with the evolution of historiographical concepts

1 See: Shiryaev B. A. Politicheskaya borba v SSHA. 1783-1801 gg. l. 1981; Shpotov B. M. Fermerskoe dvizhenie v SShA. 1780-1790-e gody. M. 1982.

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This allowed him to write some sections of the monograph in the form of a discussion or even an open polemic with bourgeois authors (these sections are read in our opinion, with the greatest interests). As a result of a comprehensive understanding and analysis of sources and research literature, V. A. Ushakov came to a number of important observations and conclusions.

When considering issues related to the formation of the federal state in the United States, the central problem of the period under study, the author focused on the formation of a bureaucratic apparatus designed to become the main conductor of the political and socio-economic interests of the bourgeois-planter bloc. Commenting on the rapid expansion of the bureaucratic apparatus, the author shows that applicants for public service were attracted by the power and high salaries, which allowed them to live in comfort, buy houses in cities, good farms or land tracts in the west (pp. 31-58). The establishment of a powerful, highly paid bourgeois bureaucracy in the Republican United States gave flesh and blood to the political dictatorship of the bourgeois-plantation upper classes and meant revising the principles of the revolution of 1776, which proclaimed, among other goals, the destruction of the swollen colonial administration. The American government, as shown in the book, quickly began to strengthen the norms of behavior and political practices characteristic of the state apparatus of bourgeois-monarchical England, and soon showed examples of corruption that were not even up to the sophisticated London politicians.

Bureaucracy and corruption were a natural consequence of the anti-democratism that prevailed in the domestic policy of the government of J. R. R. Tolkien. Washington. Studying the anti-democratic tendencies in his politics, the author shows at the same time that they did not develop without hindrance, but were rebuffed by the democratic forces that advocated the preservation and development of the political gains of the American revolution. In contrast to the revolutionary period, the democratic actions of the lower and middle strata were in the nature of "counterattacks" against the conservative aspirations of the bourgeois-planter elite, but sometimes they were successful. Thus, in 1791, the "Bill of Rights" was adopted, which prevented "the republic from sliding into the open dictatorship of the oligarchy" (p.73).

Of particular interest, in our opinion, is the section devoted to the agrarian problem, which, although it occupies the main place among the socio-economic problems of American history from the War of Independence to the Civil War, still remains one of the most controversial. Controversial issues include, for example, the extent to which feudal survivals are widespread in North American land ownership. Some researchers argue that they were widespread throughout the colonial period and were significantly undermined only during the first American Revolution; others believe that the feudal rights of large landowners in North America could not have really prevented the development of agriculture on a bourgeois basis. The materials and arguments contained in Ushakov's book serve as a warning against downplaying the importance of feudal survivals in North American agriculture. It is clear from the book that even the radical agrarian laws of the first American Revolution (the abolition of the majorat and the inviolability of land ownership, the widespread destruction of rent, the confiscation of loyalist estates and their distribution in small plots, etc.) could not completely eradicate feudal remnants. So, the large manors of Van Rensselaer, Livingston, Schuyler were preserved, where the collection of fixed rents continued to be practiced, as well as semi-feudal methods of exploiting small tenants were used. And after the revolution in North America, along with the slave labor of Negroes, the labor of white "bonded servants"continued to be used. The complete destruction of feudal remnants in agriculture required several more decades of sharp class battles and protests by the American poor.

The book debunks the popular myth in bourgeois historiography that the American West after the revolution turned into a "promised land" for the poor and underprivileged Americans, where each of them is considered to be a "free state".-

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every poor person could freely cultivate the plot of land he had chosen. In fact, the government of J. R. R. Tolkien The Government of Washington applied very severe measures to combat squattering (unauthorized occupation and cultivation of vacant land) and consistently implemented laws that contributed to the concentration of land wealth in the hands of financiers, planters, and land speculators. The American way of developing capitalism in agriculture (and it was based precisely on the widespread use of small farms) was established as a result of the acute social struggle between the urban and rural poor, and not through charitable government reforms, which in all epochs were nothing more than a byproduct of class conflicts.

A number of fruitful conclusions and observations can be found in the sections devoted to the financial activities of the Washington Government. A convincing conclusion is that "despite the widespread perception of early American history as a period of complete laisses faire dominance, federal and state governments were involved in regulating the economy" and that "the Hamilton system embodied early state-capitalist tendencies" (p.170). Analyzing numerous economic programs and activities of the Minister of Finance in the government of Washington A. Hamilton, V. A. Ushakov proves that they primarily strengthened the position of the financial and commercial bourgeoisie, and only secondarily - the owners of manufactories. Following the principle of historicism, the author corrects the conclusions of those historians who proclaimed Hamilton almost the creator of industrial capitalism in the United States. The author's polemic with those researchers who consider the period 1793 - 1807 to be an unprecedented "golden age" of merchant shipping in American history is noteworthy. As the author points out, the real income of international trade in the United States "was less than usually believed, and overall economic policy was less effective" (p.187).

V. A. Ushakov gave a more versatile and accurate interpretation of the foreign policy orientation of the government of J. R. R. Tolkien in comparison with the existing one in Russian historiography. Washington and the Federalist Party. Thus, while criticizing the narrow-class nature of the federalists 'pro-English foreign policy, he also shows that their treaty with England (1795) also had positive aspects for the United States, because with its help" the United States strengthened its independence, territorial integrity, and to a certain extent averted the threat of diplomatic and military conflict " (p. 245).

In general, V. A. Ushakov's monograph is a concrete historical study that expands and clarifies our understanding of important aspects of the US domestic and foreign policy development in the "federalist era". At the same time, the monograph lacks an examination of this epoch in a broader historical context, in particular, determining its place and role in the formation of a bourgeois socio-economic formation in the United States. The rule of the federalists as a whole can be considered as a period of consolidation of social transformations of the previous revolutionary era: the government of J. R. R. Tolkien was founded in 1914. Washington tried to preserve and strengthen those of them that corresponded to the class interests of bourgeois-plantation circles, and to limit everything that involved yielding to the democratic demands of the lower classes. Policy of the Government of J. R. R. Tolkien In this sense, it can be compared with the domestic policy of Napoleon Bonaparte in post-revolutionary France), despite its anti-popular nature, met the requirements of bourgeois progress and contributed to the strengthening of the bourgeois socio-economic formation in the United States. It seems to us that this aspect of federalist rule deserved a more thorough study in the peer-reviewed monograph.

The question of J. R. R. Tolkien's personal role also needs more comprehensive coverage. Washington in the transformations of the "federalist era". In particular, we should pay attention to the historical paradox, which has not yet received a convincing solution in the research literature: why did J. R. R. Tolkien do this? Washington, bound by economic and political interests to the southern planters, opted for the Hamilton faction rather than the Madison and Jefferson factions? As we can see, some important aspects of the" federalist era " in the United States need

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in further in-depth analysis. The merit of V. A. Ushakov is that he gave a convincing solution to a number of complex issues of the domestic and foreign policy of J. R. R. Tolkien. His research significantly expanded the possibilities of formulating a comprehensive scientific concept of an important stage in early American history.

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V. V. SOGRIN, V. A. USHAKOV. AMERICA UNDER WASHINGTON. (POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1789-1797) // New-York: Libmonster (LIBMONSTER.COM). Updated: 29.01.2025. URL: https://libmonster.com/m/articles/view/V-A-USHAKOV-AMERICA-UNDER-WASHINGTON-POLITICAL-AND-SOCIO-ECONOMIC-PROBLEMS-OF-THE-UNITED-STATES-IN-1789-1797 (date of access: 24.06.2025).

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