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The Compromise Generation is that name given to the generation of Americans born from 1767 to 1791 by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book Generations. As Henry Clay later recalled, this generation grew up "rocked in the cradle of the Revolution" as they watched brave adults struggle and triumph. Compliantly coming of age, they offered a new erudition, expertise, and romantic sensibility to their heroic elders' Age of Improvement . As young adults, they became what historian Matthew Cremson calls "the administrative founding fathers" and soldiered a Second War for Independence whose glory could never compare with the first. In midlife, they mentored populist movements, fretted over slavery and Indian removal, and presided over the Great Compromise that reflected their irresolution. As elders during the American Civil War, they feared that their "postheroic" mission had failed and that the United States might not outlive them.The Compromisers' typical grandparents were of the Awakening Generation . Their parents were of the Liberty Generation and Republican Generation. Their children were of the Transcendental Generation and Gilded Generation; their typical grandchildren were of the Progressive Generation.
Altogether, about 4.2 million Americans were born from 1767 to 1791. 10 percent were immigrants and 15 percent were slaves at any point in their lives.
Sample Compromisers with birth and death dates as this generation is fully ancestral include the following:
- 1767 Denmark VeseyDenmark Vesey (originally Telemanque was an American slave and entrepreneur who planned what would have been a large slave rebellion had word of the plans not been leaked. Vesey was taken from West Africa to South Carolina as a youth, where he was made a (1822)
- c. 1768 TecumsehFor other uses of the name, see Tecumseh (disambiguation). Tecumseh ( 1768 October 5, 1813), also known as Tecumtha was a Native American leader of the Shawnee. One of the most important Native Americans in history, he spent much of his life attempting to (1813)
- 1768 Dolley MadisonDolley Payne Todd Madison ( May 20, 1768 July 12, 1849), wife of President James Madison, who served from 1809 until 1817. She also occasionally acted as First Lady of the United States during the administration of Thomas Jefferson fulfilling the ceremoni (1849)
- 1769 DeWitt ClintonDeWitt Clinton ( March 2, 1769 February 11, 1828) was an early American politician. Born in Little Britain, New York, the son of James Clinton, he was educated at what is now Columbia University. He became the secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, who w (1828)
- 1773 John Randolph of RoanokeJohn Randolph ( June 2, 1773 May 24, 1833) was a Representative and a Senator from Virginia, USA. He was born in Cawsons, Virginia, known as John Randolph of Roanoke to distinguish him from relatives. The name Roanoke refers to Roanoke Plantation in Charl (1833)
- 1774 Meriwether LewisCharles Willson Peale Meriwether Lewis ( August 18, 1774 October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator; he is best known for his role as the leader of the Corps of Discovery. Lewis was born in Albemarle County, Virginia (ne (1809)
- 1775 Francis Cabot LowellFrancis Cabot Lowell ( April 7, 1775 April 10, 1817) was the American business man for whom the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, United States is named. He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the son of John Lowell (1743-1802) and Susanna Cabot (1754-17 (1817)
- 1777 Roger Taney (1864)
- 1777 Henry Clay (1852)
- 1780 William Ellery Channing (1842)
- 1782 Daniel Webster (1852)
- 1782 John C. Calhoun (1850)
- 1783 Washington Irving (1859)
- 1785 John Audubon (1851) (immigrant)
- 1786 Davy Crockett (1836)
- 1786 Winfield Scott (1866)
- 1787 Emma Willard (1870)
- 1788 Sarah Hale (1879)
- 1789 James Fenimore Cooper (1851)
- 1791 Samuel F. B. Morse (1872)
The Compromisers had seven U.S. Presidents:
The Compromisers had a plurality in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1813 to 1835, a plurality in the U.S. Senate from 1813 to 1841, and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1829 to 1860.
Prominent non-U.S. peers of the Compromisers include Napoleon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sir Walter Scott, and Simón Bolívar.
The cultural endowments of the Compromisers include the following:
American generations
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