This admirable survey of the first twelve years under the present Constitution of the United States never strays far from the political and economic spheres, but no apology is needed for this emphasis in describing those particular years. The significance of the institutional patterns established for the new Republic under Washington and Adams can hardly be overstated. The adjectives, “Hamiltonian” and "Jeffersonian” ring with meaning to the present hour, although, interestingly enough, there seems to be little that is “Washingtonian” or “Adamsonian” in contemporary American life. The controversies of those times are warmly revisited and the attachments of the author are frankly stated, but never obtrusively.
Professor Miller has done well the very exacting task of balancing breadth and depth in accordance with the general plan of the New American Nation series. It is so much easier to produce a narrow monograph of unlimited depth than to write a generalized history that is as convincing as this one is. The up-to-date bibliography is a real tool for both teacher and scholar.
