As an historian, teacher, and author of political science textbooks, Jesse Macy in 1919 gives an interesting and unique look at the political climate at a very difficult and historic time in America. In reading this historical writing from nearly 100 years ago about the happenings in the years immediately prior to the American Civil War, it is a reminder not only of the strides we have achieved over the years and generations toward individual freedom and equality but a reminder of what is yet left to achieve.
Jesse Macy (June 21, 1842 – November 2, 1919) was an American political scientist and historian of the late 19th and early 20th century, specializing in the history of American political parties, party systems, and the Civil War. He spent most of his professional career at his alma mater, Grinnell College.