History 135: American History to 1877I. Was America a Mistake?A. Biological/natural inferiorityB. Cultural declinePowerPoint PresentationSlide 6C. Mob politicsD. The Fall of the United StatesII. Empire of Reason?A. Nature’s NationB. Cry Liberty!The American ExperienceHistory 135: American History to 1877IntroductionI. Was America a Mistake?An 18th century essay contestGuillaume-Thomas Raynalphilosopher, professional crankv. Adam SmithA. Biological/natural inferiority 1. 1780s - Comte de Buffon“It is a great and terrible spectacle to see one half of the globe disfavoredby nature that everything found thereis degenerate or monstrous.”B. Cultural decline 1. Slavery2. Warfare among nation-states 1550-18153. Individual brutalityConquistadors4. Racial degenerationcoureurs de bois (French) mestizos (Spanish) a. “mixed” couplesb. diluted religion c. genocideC. Mob politics1. Dark side of peopleD. The Fall of the United States1. v.1776II. Empire of Reason?John Locke tabula rasaJeffersonMy friends and children, we are descended from the old nations which live beyond the great water, but we and our forefathers have been so long here that we seem like you to have grown out of this land. We consider ourselves no longer of the old nations beyond the great water, but as united in one family with our red brethren here. - to the Wolf and People of the Mandan Nation, 1806A. Nature’s NationFrederick Jackson Turner“Frontier Thesis” 1893Americans as: democratic egalitarian materialistic aggressiveB. Cry Liberty!1. Reconcile cultural dominance w/ national legacy 2. The Spirit of ‘76The American Experience•How have Americans defined “liberty”?•What are the limits “liberty”?•What are the contradictions in American history and
View Full Document