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A Measure of Detachment: Richard Hofstadter and the Progressive Historians
A MEASURE OF DETACHMENT: RICHARD HOFSTADTER AND THE PROGRESSIVE HISTORIANS A Thesis Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS By Wiliiam McGeehan May 2018 Thesis Approvals: Harvey Neptune, Department of History Andrew Isenberg, Department of History ABSTRACT This thesis argues that Richard Hofstadter's innovations in historical method arose as a critical response to the Progressive historians, particularly to Charles Beard. Hofstadter's first two books were demonstrations of the inadequacy of Progressive methodology, while his third book (the Age of Reform) showed the potential of his new way of writing history. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................i CHAPTER 1. A MEASURE OF DETACHMENT..........................................................................1 2. SOCIAL DARWINISM IN AMERICAN THOUGHT………………………………………………26 3. THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION…………………………………………………………..52 4. THE AGE OF REFORM…………………………………………………………………………………….100 5. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………139 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..144 CHAPTER ONE A MEASURE OF DETACHMENT Great thinkers often spend their early years in rebellion against the teachers from whom they have learned the most. Freud would say they live out a form of the Oedipal archetype, that son must murder his father at least a little bit if he is ever to become his own man. -
The Conservatism of Richard Hofstadter 45
The Conservatism of Richard Hofstadter 45 The Conservatism of Richard Hofstadter Ryan Coates Third Year Undergraduate, Durham University ‘We have all been taught to regard it as more or less “natural” for young dissenters to become conservatives as they grow older.’ Richard Hofstadter So proved to be the case for the author of this statement, the outstanding American historian of the twentieth century, Richard Hofstadter (1916-70). This assertion challenges the dominant orthodox portrayal of Hofstadter as the iconic public intellectual of post-war American liberalism. The orthodox interpretation, supported by biographer David Brown and historians Arthur Schlesinger and Sean Wilentz, demonstrates Hofstadter’s ideological progression from thirties radical, briefly a member of the Communist Party, to fifties liberal credited as the founder of consensus history.1 This interpretation draws upon Hofstadter’s most political works, includingThe American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It (1948), The Age of Reform (1955) and most prominently, the essays collected in The Paranoid Style in American Politics (1964), to reveal an apparent all-encompassing hostility toward conservatism. The revisionist interpretation, advanced by Hofstadter’s fellow New York intellectual Alfred Kazin and historians Robert Collins, Daniel Walker Howe and Peter Elliott Finn, challenges this one-dimensional portrayal of Hofstadter’s complex relationship to conservatism.2 Rather than flourishing into the iconic historian of American liberalism, the revisionists contend, Hofstadter’s intellectual development represented a gradual transition that had, by the end of his shortened life, culminated in a conversion to Burkean conservatism. Indeed, Kazin’s description of Hofstadter as a ‘secret conservative in a radical period’ encourages parallels 1 David S. -
Deposit and Copying Declaration Form
The Life of the Mind: An Intellectual Biography of Richard Hofstadter Andrew Ronald Snodgrass Jesus College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2018 Abstract The Life of the Mind: An Intellectual Biography of Richard Hofstadter Andrew Ronald Snodgrass Despite his death in 1970, Richard Hofstadter’s work continues to have an enduring influence in American political culture. Yet despite the continued and frequent use of his interpretations in public discourse, his reputation within historical scholarship remains, to a large degree, shaped by perceptions that were formed towards the end of his career. The narrative pervades of Hofstadter as the archetypal New York intellectual who rejected his youthful radicalism for political conservatism which, in turn, shaped his consensus vision of the past. These assessments reflect the biographical tendency to read a life and career backwards. From such a vantage point, Hofstadter’s work is viewed through the prism of his perceived final position. My dissertation challenges the accepted narrative by considering his writing in the context of the period of time in which it was written. In doing so, it is evident that his work belies attempts to reduce his scholarship to reflections of a shifting political standpoint. Whilst it is undoubted that Hofstadter’s historical and political view changed through time, there was a remarkable consistency to his thought. Throughout his career, his writing and lectures were suffused with a sense of the contingency of truth. It was the search for new uncertainties rather than the capture of truth which was central to his work. -
Why American History Is Not What They Say
WHY AMERICAN HISTORY IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY: AN INTRODUCTION TO REVISIONISM also by jeff riggenbach In Praise of Decadence WHY AMERICAN HISTORY IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY: AN INTRODUCTION TO REVISIONISM Jeff Riggenbach Ludwig von Mises Institute, 518 West Magnolia Avenue, Auburn, Alabama 36832; mises.org. Copyright 2009 © by Jeff Riggenbach Published under Creative Commons attribution license 3.0 ISBN: 978-1-933550-49-7 History, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools. —ambrose bierce The Devil’s Dictionary (1906) This book is for Suzanne, who made it possible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Portions of Chapter Three and Chapter Five appeared earlier, in somewhat different form, in Liberty magazine, on RationalReview. com, and on Antiwar.com. David J. Theroux of the Independent Institute, Andrea Millen Rich of the Center for Independent Thought, and Alexia Gilmore of the Randolph Bourne Institute were generous with their assistance during the researching and writing stages of this project. Ellen Stuttle was her usual indispensable self. And, of course, responsibility for any errors of fact, usage, or judgment in these pages is entirely my own. CONTENTS preface 15 one The Art of History 19 i. Objectivity in History 19 ii. History and Fiction 25 iii. Th e Historical Fiction of Kenneth Roberts 36 iv. Th e Historical Fiction of John Dos Passos 41 two The Historical Fiction of Gore Vidal: The “American Chronicle” Novels 49 i. Burr and Lincoln 49 ii. 1876, Empire, and Hollywood 59 iii. Hollywood and Th e Golden Age 65 three The Story of American Revisionism 71 i. -
19 CHAPTER NINE AMERICAN HISTORY American History Has Not
CHAPTER NINE AMERICAN HISTORY American history has not been subject to the same influences as British history being rather less in chronological extent and without the need to justify the lineage of the various English dynasties of monarchs. Nevertheless it has been subject to its own myths and ideologies dating from the first English settlement and given force with the American Revolution. They can be grouped as various varieties of what is known as “American exceptionalism. “ In the Puritan John Winthrop's 1630 sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity", preached on board the ship Arbella. Winthrop told the future Massachusetts Bay colonists that their new community would be "as a city upon a hill", watched by the world and this became the ideal the New England colonists placed upon their hilly capital city, Boston Winthrop's sermon gave rise to the widespread belief in American folklore that the United States of America is "God's country" because metaphorically it is a "Shining City upon a Hill". This sentiment was echoed just before the Revolution by Thomas Paine in his influential 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense”. He argued that the American Revolution provided an opportunity to create a new, better society: “We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand....” Many Americans agreed with Paine, and came to believe that the United States' virtue was a result of its special experiment in freedom and democracy. -
Synthesis…Comparing Sources… Woodrow Wilson
Unit 6, Period 7 Part 1 Name:_______________________________________________________________ Class Period:____ Synthesis…comparing sources… Woodrow Wilson Skill 9: Synthesis Historical thinking involves the ability to develop meaningful and persuasive new understandings of the past by applying all of the other historical thinking skills, by drawing appropriately on ideas and methods from different fields of inquiry or disciplines, and by creatively fusing disparate, relevant, and sometimes contradictory evidence from primary sources and secondary works. Additionally, synthesis may involve applying insights about the past to other historical contexts or circumstances, including the present. Proficient students should be able to … Combine disparate, sometimes contradictory evidence from primary sources and secondary works in order to create a persuasive understanding of the past. Apply insights about the past to other historical contexts or circumstances, including the present. One important way to practice this historical thinking skill is to analyze two different sources or viewpoints on one event or era. Just as historians pull information from a plethora of different sources, we must also consider more than one source when analyzing history. In an essay, this skill will enable complex conclusions. On short answer questions, you may be presented with two sources then have to analyze them. AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR SAQs ON THE AP EXAM WILL BE SYNTHESIS! Such a task, when analyzing secondary sources, also requires an appreciation of historiography and realizing that history isn’t necessarily what happened in the past. It is our perception of what happened in the past. The story changes as perspectives change, but the goal is the same: to better understand the past. -
Populist Paranoia: the Roots and Style of Agrarian Reform Throughout the Late Gilded Age by Jordan Rosman Advisor
1 Populist Paranoia: The Roots and Style of Agrarian Reform throughout the Late Gilded Age By Jordan Rosman Advisor: Rogers Smith This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of Bachelor of Arts Degree Department of Political Science with Distinction College of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania 2017 2 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank Dr. Rogers Smith, my thesis advisor and the director of the Penn Program on Democracy and Constitutionalism, for his continual guidance and time devoted throughout countless meetings, seminars, and back-and-forth emails. Dr. Smith first sparked my academic interest in the Gilded Age and revisionist history in his American Constitutional Law class. This year, he encouraged me early to embrace an interdisciplinary approach towards this research, which made the thesis process an extremely vibrant intellectual undertaking. Though Dr. Smith was originally skeptical of my thesis (and probably still is), I know no one more dedicated to intellectual tolerance and honesty than Dr. Smith. He showed the utmost respect for my own ideas and opinions, for which I will always be appreciative. I would also like to thank Dr. Doherty-Sil for her leadership and guidance during the fall honors seminar. She effectively cultivated a sense of community among the class, which allowed me to critically engage with fellow friends and students. I also owe much appreciation to Dr. James Hrdlicka and Dr. Shenila Khoja-Moolji for their guidance and help throughout the DCC seminar. I also owe an additional thank you to Dr. Steven Hahn for piquing my interests in and passions for popular politics. -
The New Left Historians and the Historiography of the Cold War.
THC NEW LEFT HISTORIANS AND THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE COLD WAR James Viggo Jensen B.A., University of British Columbia, 1969 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF I .: THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department History @ JAMES VIGGO JENSEN 1975 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY April 1975 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name : James Viggo Jensen Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: The New Left Historians and the Historiography of the Cold War Examining Comit tee : Chairman : J.M. Bumsted Ian Mwidge Senior Supervisor C.G. Reed, External Examiner Department of Economics & Commerce Simon Fraser University Date Approved : 28 April 1975 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICEhSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its -own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate ::udies. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thes is /~issertation : The New Left Historians and the Hi~toriographyof the Cold !Jar. Author : James Viggo Jensen (name) April 28, 1975 (date) l? T)Ct"" CT . -
Michael Hochgeschwender the Scopes Trial in the Context of Competing Modernity Discourses
The Scopes Trial in the Context of Competing Modernity Discourses 213 Michael Hochgeschwender The Scopes Trial in the Context of Competing Modernity Discourses On July 21, 1925, one of the most famous criminal trials in American legal history came to an end. In contrast to the celebrated “trial of the century” one year earlier against Nathan F. Leopold Jr. and Richard A. Loeb, this time the case concerned not the perfect murder but the rather simple question, at least at first sight, whether or not a biology teacher in the state of Tennessee was entitled to present Darwin’s theory of evolution to his students. Nevertheless, for many contempo- raries these two trials, the Leopold and Loeb trial in Chicago and the “Monkey Trial” of John T. Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee, were connected to each other. This was not only because lawyer Clarence Darrow was a central actor in both court- rooms, but also because both trials enjoyed considerable echoes in the media1. Both cases were later adapted into hit films: Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope from 1948 and Inherit the Wind, starring Spencer Tracy, from 1955. In Dayton, more than 120 journalists were present, expecting the biggest trial since Jesus Christ’s cruci- fixion, as one observer explained. Altogether, nearly 5,000 people over seven days filled the courtroom of a place with just 1,800 inhabitants2. Above all, these trials sent a message to conservative Americans who still iden- tified with bourgeois, Victorian values inherited from the nineteenth century3. Obviously this world, which they already looked upon as the “good old times”, was in decline during the stormy decade after the end of World War I4. -
The International History Review Isolationism, the Devil, and The
This article was downloaded by: [University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign] On: 16 March 2015, At: 10:28 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The International History Review Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rinh20 Isolationism, the Devil, and the Advent of the Second World War: Variations on a Theme Geoffrey S. Smith a a Queen's University Published online: 01 Dec 2010. To cite this article: Geoffrey S. Smith (1982) Isolationism, the Devil, and the Advent of the Second World War: Variations on a Theme, The International History Review, 4:1, 55-89, DOI: 10.1080/07075332.1982.9640267 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07075332.1982.9640267 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. -
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Counterpoint The Manx Peril: Archival Theory in Light of Recent American Historiography by PETER A. RUSSELL* Archivists want a consensus across the research communities they seek to serve on what sort of records will be most useful, not merely now but in the future. Similarly, teachers want a coherent view of history to pass on to their students. These needs have sent scholars -whether teachers or archivists - in search of some threads of consensus or coherence in the histories that have been written by the generation of the 1960s and 1970s. In his 1981 call for a more consciously formulated archival theory, Frank Burke set out what he considered must be central questions for archivists: What is the nature of history, historical fact and historical thought? What are thefacts, and how do they affect interpretation?. Should the archivist be concerned that what he is preserving is truth, or just evidence? . Do records establish facts? Or are records just interpretations of the facts by the records creators?] The issues of the limits and character of human knowledge have touched almost all academic disciplines in almost all countries; and profoundly influenced some national scholarly communities. However, it is unusual to find broad debates upon such fundamental issues among English-speaking archivists or historians in any country. Therefore, the recent debates which have dominated American historical journals over the past three or four years are of special interest. The writing of Canadian history has tended to follow fashions set elsewhere. Especially for English Canadians, American trends have had great impact. Perhaps there is not now the 'cultural time lag' that once existed between, say, the birth of Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontierism" in the 1890s and its belated arrival in Canada in the 1920s. -
William Appleman Williams| Progressive, Consensus, New Left Historian
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1996 William Appleman Williams| Progressive, consensus, New Left historian Bradley J. Fogo The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Fogo, Bradley J., "William Appleman Williams| Progressive, consensus, New Left historian" (1996). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 4093. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/4093 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. # Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University of IVIONTANA Pennission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. ** Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature ** Yes, I grant permission No, I do not grant permission Author's Signature Date Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. William Appleman Williams; Progressive, Consensus, New Left Historian by Bradley J. Fogo B.A. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1992 presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The University of Montana 1996 Approved by: Chairperson Dean, Graduate School 5- lS-16 Date UMI Number: EP36361 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.