Politics for the People

Ted Widmer, Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, presented the seminar “Politics in the Early Republic” to project teachers at the Madeline English School in Everett.

Widmer, the author of Martin Van Buren, discussed what he felt was Van Buren’s main contribution, his role in creating the national system of organized political parties as we know them today. In reflecting on the new immigrants who were in America, Van Buren “figured out a way to translate these people into political power”. Consequently, national political parties were introduced that gave significant power to people who never had it, who were previously outside politics.

Widmer’s advice to teachers of young students is to “read history and translate” it for them. He stressed the importance of making history personal to students by imparting to them that historic figures were “real people whose lives had both good and bad aspects”. Several interesting stories about Martin Van Buren made teachers see him in a new light, as a real person.