Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-285) and index.

"Political Moderation in America's First Two Centuries seeks to correct the popular impression of moderation as timidity and caution. Robert McCluer Calhoon examines the structure of political moderation in detail, characterizing it as a compound of principle and prudence and defining it as humility in the face of the past and as historically grounded political ethics." "Calhoon examines moderation's history during the Peloponnesian War, the French Wars of Religion, and the century of its efflorescence from 1572 to 1680 when it failed to coalesce into an ideology. The bulk of the book then examines the popularization of political moderation in America from 1713 to 1884 as an integral element in political culture and the product of religious belief and practice." "This book is the first comprehensive history of this subject, yet it draws on more than a hundred books published over the past half century, proving conclusively that political moderates were made, not born."--Jacket.

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