The emergence of conservatism as a political concept in the United States before the Civil War

This article explores when and why conservative became a keyword in America politics. In a quantitative study of the press, Smith shows the importance of American engagement with European politics when French radicalism in the 1790s and then British reform in the 1830s shaped American understanding of conservatism as a signifier of stability and progress that complemented Enlightenment liberalism’s emphasis on freedom and equality. During the 1850s, conservatism became an attractive bulwark for Northerners of all political stripes seeking to navigate the storm of sectional conflict