Romance with the American Dream the Regional Aspect of the American Dream: New England, the South, and the Far West Author: Irina V
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сourse: Romance with the American Dream The Regional Aspect of the American Dream: New England, the South, and the Far West Author: Irina V. Morozova The character of the American Dream — its identity — is determined by many factors, among which an important place must be given to the regionalism of American culture. Regionalism is the result of the gradual settlement of the continent by people who arrived with their own goals and their own dreams. From the very beginning of colonial times, the land was settled by various groups of people, who were constantly joined by new settlers with similar goals. Right from the start, there were three distinct regions. The New England Colonies included: New Plymouth, established in 1620 (it became part of Massachusetts); Massachusetts Bay (which included the modern state of Maine), established in 1630; Connecticut, 1635; Rhode Island, 1636; and New Hampshire, 1638. The Middle (Mid-Atlantic) Colonies included: Delaware, 1638; Pennsylvania, 1681; New York, 1664 (from 1631 to 1664 it was the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam); New Jersey, 1664. The Southern Colonies included: Virginia, 1607; Maryland, 1634; North and South Carolina, 1663; Georgia, 1732. The first three colonies formed the Upper South, the last three – the Lower South. The colonies of these three regions rapidly spread West, forming the basis for the new country, having won independence from the British Crown in the American Revolution (1775 – 1789). Later, after the huge Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, the annexation of Texas in 1845, the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848) and the discovery of gold in California, a new cultural region appeared on the map of American that differed strikingly from the rest – the Far West, often called the Wild West, with its heroes – cowboys and gold miners – and with its dream, often defended with a lasso and a Colt. The Wild West traditionally includes the states of Montana (1806); Texas (1845); California (1850); Kansas (1861); Nevada (1864); Colorado (1876); North and South Dakota (1889); Wyoming (1890); Arizona (1912); New Mexico (1912). New England, the South, and the Far West have retained their specific regional differences to the present day, which can be seen in literature, music and film. In spite of statements that regional cultural differences have given way to multicultural tendencies, modern American literature tells a different story. For example, there is a very distinct “Southern Gothic” style of literature: the works of Cormac McCarthy (born 1933), Harry Crews (1936-2012), and Donna Tartt (born 1963) would be impossible to understand or appreciate without their ties to the cultural traditions of the South. The worlds of horror created by Stephen King (born 1947) unquestionably spring from New England. New England, which from 1791 included Vermont, united under its roof deeply religious people, mainly Puritans, followers of the Calvinist (the strictest) branch of Protestantism. Many of them had been persecuted for their faith in their homelands, and for this reason, their dream was freedom of conscience and the establishment of the “city on a hill,” New Jerusalem. They viewed their move to the new continent as an act of Divine Providence, showing them the path to a life where their faith would not be repressed. This is how that dream was presented in the most famous sermon from the Colonial period, “A Modell of Christian Charity,” 1630, given aboard the “Arabella,” the second most important ship (after the “Mayflower”), by John Winthrop (1587/88-1649): “..we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection…We must delight in each other; make other’s conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as his own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways… We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, …when he shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, ‘The Lord make it likely that of New England.’ For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. “ “Arabella” John Winthrop © Boston Public Library Charles Osgood © Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston In other words, the dream of the New England settlers was the construction of a social model founded exclusively on the “unity of the spirit,” the principles of freedom, and Christian charity, which could serve as a model for the rest of the world. This conviction in one’s rectitude, on the one hand, and on the other, the deep-seated reflex characteristic of Protestants on the “correctness” of reading God’s word, defined the New England “regional dream.” It also contained one of the most important ethical principles of Protestantism – respect for labor, as well as constant improvement of oneself and the surrounding environment. In essence, the New England Puritan thought of his life as a short-term stay of his spirit in an earthly shell, and in the final analysis, he either would or would not be saved. For this reason, the New England version of the American Dream, especially during the Colony’s first years, has a clearly defined religious content. For example, misfortune that fell to the Christian’s lot was seen as a sign from God, a test of the strength of his faith. In one of the most famous texts of the 17th century, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson 1682), written by a native of New England, Mary Rowlandson, (born 1635/37 – 1711), who had been captured by Indians, this idea of trials sent by God is clearly expressed: “Before I knew what affliction meant, I was ready sometimes to wish for it. When I lived in prosperity, having the comforts of the world about me, my relations by me, my heart cheerful, and taking little care for anything, and yet seeing many, whom I preferred before myself, under many trials and afflictions, in sickness, weakness, poverty, losses, crosses, and cares of the world, I should be sometimes jealous least I should have my portion in this life, and that Scripture would come to my mind, ‘For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth’ (Hebrews 12.6) … Affliction I wanted, and affliction I had, full measure (I thought), pressed down and. Yet I see, when God calls a person to anything, and through never so many difficulties, yet He is fully able to carry them through and make them see, and say they have been gainers thereby. And I hope I can say in some measure, as David did, ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted …I have learned to look beyond present and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them.’ (Psalms 118:71). As Moses said, ‘Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord’ (Exodus 14.13).” Such an attitude towards one’s own life certainly gave rise to specific traits in the New England character – its resilience and refusal to knuckle under in the face of life’s trials. Even though the New England dream dealt less with the material than the spiritual – being saved – it still gave the material world huge importance, as an area for improvement according to God’s plan. The intense scrutiny of the surrounding world with the goal of deciphering divine messages could not fail to have a distinct effect on a person’s character, value system, mentality, and therefore to create a special intellectual tradition. This tradition is distinguished by intense reflection on the battle between Good and Evil, constant doubt about the rightness of the chosen path, and tireless work on improving oneself and the surrounding world, i.e., on creating the model “city on a hill” that the first settlers were dreaming of. It is no accident that almost all the Founding Fathers were followers of this intellectual tradition. At the beginning of the 20th century, the grandson and great-grandson of two U.S. presidents, Henry Adams (1838-1918), in his final work The Education of Henry Adams (1907), gave the following definition of the New England character and the consciousness of a resident of that region: “Resistance to something was the law of New England nature; the boy looked out on the world with the instinct of resistance; for numberless generations his predecessors had viewed the world chiefly as a thing to be reformed, filled with evil forces to be abolished…” Henry Adams Herman Melville William Notman Joseph Oriel Eaton © Harvard University Archives © Houghton Library, Harvard University The world as an arena for the struggle between Good and Evil was most clearly presented in the works of New England Romantics, who reflected on the disconnect between the dream of an ideal society and the real world. They saw human nature as the reason why it was impossible to create that world; original sin was responsible. Herman Melville (1819 —1891) wrote about this in Moby Dick, or The Whale, (1851) his famous novel in which Captain Ahab projects his sinful nature onto the outside world and creates Evil. Later, the idea of Evil and the ability of the human mind to create it would form the basis for the horror in the worlds of Howard Phillips “H. P.” Lovecraft (1890-1937), who inspired the aforementioned “king of horror” Stephen King.