William Cooper's Town Power And Persuasion

Book Review for William Cooper’s Town
In William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic Alan Taylor argues that the American Revolution was a war that affected many settlements in social and political ways. The expansion of the United States caused many Americans to question the beliefs from the colonial past, and this would cause a shift in the present social order. Various new settlements brought about many struggles over distribution of property and political offices. All of the struggles were the key to define the social disorder that occurred during the post Revolutionary War time period. Taylor proved his thesis valid by using the life of William Cooper. Taylor used Cooper joining the Library

Company of Burlington, his marriage with Elizabeth Fenimore, his attempt to become genteel, and his attempt to get his children to carry on the hopes and dreams he tried to pursue, in which he failed to do so, to prove his thesis.
In William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic, Taylor does an exceptional job recreating the struggles that William Cooper had to face to become what he did. This book announces the political, social, and economical transformations in light of the American Revolution. William Cooper came from a very broken past, but he made a fortune from founding Cooperstown and buying Otsego County, New York. Cooper exercised his knowledge and went on to become a judge and U.S. Congressman. He decided to become a Federalist and wanted to remain with the old colonial ways of life. Yet, the Republicans were dominating the Federalists by the Republican Revolution of 1800. The Federalist side took a major downfall and resulted in Republican ideas dominating the United States government. When all else had failed, Cooper had his children to rely on to carry out his hopes and dreams.
Taylor used William Cooper joining the Library Company of Burlington in 1780 as his first point to prove his thesis.

Cooper wanted to become one of “the well-educated gentlemen who dominated the civic, economic, and cultural life of Burlington.” So, he started to teach himself how to read fluently, just so he could become an elite. Cooper went from taking out six volumes in one year to, an averaged, forty-six volumes in eight years. This put him in a position to become one of the most industrious readers in the Library. William started out by reading Political Literature, but he expanded his choices by reading multiple pieces of poetry. An example of a piece of literature is Thomas Birch’s The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain; with their Lives, and Characters. One of Cooper’s favorite poems was Alexander Pope’s translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Cooper read these books to increase his knowledge so he could become smart and well-educated as the elite were in Burlington. He joined the Library Company of Burlington in hope of being able to become like one of the wealthy elites that resided there.
Taylor used William Cooper and Elizabeth Fenimore’s marriage to support his thesis. Cooper married Elizabeth Fenimore and used her parent’s money and social status to jumpstart his life. He potentially became a farmer, shopkeeper, and land speculator, but he really started his life when he bought a piece of land near Otsego Lake. By purchasing this land, Cooper was

able to get recognized and favored by many of that area. This would really help Cooper for when he is to run for a political office.
Cooper took control over William Franklin’s land and managed to sell it off rather quickly. Cooper built a trusted relationship with the settlers that came to settle in his town. With all the money Cooper was receiving, he was buying things and bragging about it to his elite friends. Cooper’s past connected him to the settlers and he would relate to them by going over their hardships. This made Cooper different than the other wealthy people, and they saw themselves grander than everybody else. Cooper gained the trust and loyalty of these people and gained social and political power. His purchase of this land did him a favor because people got to know who he really was, and that Cooper was a reliable man that was honest and trustworthy. This helped with gaining more of the popular image that he needed.
In Cooper’s life, he experienced many failures but his most significant one has to be his children.

Cooper tried to pass on the gentility to his children but they wouldn’t comprehend. This impacted him severely because he knew that if he couldn’t control his own children, his sense of being a well known man would decay. Cooper had lost understanding of being a good father and husband after Hannah, his daughter, died. She was his most favorable child because she was praised by many officials. Hannah also inherited her father’s gentility, and this would come to an advantage for Cooper because she would reflect positively on him. Cooper tried to improve his son’s, William Cooper Jr., life by telling him to take on college at an early start. This was not a good idea but Cooper went along with it anyways. Cooper Jr. started to make poor decisions and got kicked out of Princeton. William Cooper was furious with his son and did not appreciate his behavior that he ensued at Princeton. Later in life, Cooper Jr. designed a platform that would be used by the U.S. Navy, but the device sank and his investment of five thousand dollars was erased and he received the public tease of “Cooper’s Ark” (Taylor, 338). This proved to be his failure in training his children to continue on his legacy of

success.
In Alan Taylor’s William Cooper’s Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic, he argues that the American Revolution affected America in social and political ways. The expansion of the United States caused many settlers to question the beliefs and ways of life in the colonial past. New settlements created tension between property and political distributions. Many struggles occurred that helped shape America to become what it is today. Taylor does an extraordinary job in describing the lifestyle that Cooper had to live to get where he wanted to in this book. Cooper’s life and legacy is a perfect example of what life was like before and after the Revolutionary War.