Poetry Wars: Verse and Politics in the American Revolution and Early RepublicDuring America's founding period, poets and balladeers engaged in a series of literary wars against political leaders, journalists, and each other, all in the name of determining the political course of the new nation. Political poems and songs appeared regularly in newspapers (and as pamphlets and broadsides), commenting on political issues and controversies and satirizing leaders like Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Drawing on hundreds of