"A Study of Partisan politics and class conflict in early nineteenth-century Boston, this book traces the history of a popular revolt against an entrenched ruling elite. Led by an unlikely populist, patrician Josiah Quincy, the rebellion against the reigning Federalist party not only altered the political landscape of Boston but also signalled the advent of the Jacksonian Age." "In the end, Crocker argues, Quincy and the insurgency he led left an ambiguous legacy. On the one hand, as Boston's "Great Mayor," Quincy established himself as one of the nineteenth century's most powerful and dictatorial city executives. On the other, the populist movement that toppled the Federalist party in Boston presaged a new kind of American politics that would soon spread throughout the nation."--Jacket.