A reassessment of the tumultuous culture of politics on the national stage during America's earliest years, when national leaders struggled to define themselves and their role in the new nation. The author shows how the rituals and rhetoric of honour provided ground rules for political combat.

This volume presents a major reassessment of the tumultuous culture of politics on the national stage during America's earliest years, when Jefferson, Burr, Hamilton, and other national leaders struggled to define themselves and their role in the new nation. Joanne Freeman shows how the rituals and rhetoric of honour provided ground rules for political combat; how gossip, print warfare, and duelling became accepted political weapons; and how the founders jostled for political power in the nascent republic.