The United States: An Experiment in DemocracyRoutledge, 17/04/2018 - 333 páginas According to Carl Becker "if the framers of the Constitution could come back to earth and see what the federal government is doing to-day, they would all agree that this monstrous thing was no child of theirs; for to-day the federal government exercises as a matter of course powers which they never dreamed of." This prescient statement rings as true today as it did when Becker wrote An Experiment in Democracy nearly eighty years ago. This American classic is an engaging, gracefully rendered piece of historical literature as well as a non-ideological meditation on the "meaning of America." Carl Becker's ruminations are invariably provocative, notably wise, and remarkably enduring. He clearly believed in what has been called a "living Constitution," one that must be adapted to changing circumstances and imperatives in America life, and his faith in democracy seems to have strengthened as the decades progressed. In his new introduction, Michael Kammen places this American classic in historical perspective. Kammen sees Becker as more than an archival historian, but rather as a master of the "creative synthesis" looking at familiar sources in fresh ways and developing new points of view that were frequently revisionist and, on occasion, radically arresting. Much has changed between 1920 and the present; but Carl Becker's sagacity persists, just as his expository prose will continue to please a new generation of historians and students of American social history. Carl Becker was the author of "Kansas"; The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas; Modern History: The Rise of a Democratic, Scientific, and Industrial Civilization; "Benjamin Franklin"; "Everyman His Own Historian"; The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers; How New Will the Better World Be?; and Freedom and Responsibility in the American Way of Life. |
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... it was. . . .” (p. 294). He acknowledged that democracy was difficult to achieve and maintain, particularly when plutocracy gained strength verging upon dominance, and when industrialization prompted “a spirit of social unrest” (p. 317).
An Experiment in Democracy Carl Becker. when industrialization prompted “a spirit of social unrest” (p. 317). There had, in fact, been tragic urban riots in 1919; and Becker devoted the eighth of his ten chapters to “Democracy and ...
... eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Becker moved toward closure with a perception somewhat better suited to 1920 (and to 2000) than it would have been to the Founders' generation: The best traditions of the United States, the real “spirit.
... spirit of this government”, are wholly in favor of whatever governmental activity may be necessary to assure that fundamental equality of opportunity which is indispensable to true liberty and the very essence of democracy. Without such ...
... spirit of adventure, others to mend their fortunes or escape the consequences of crime or poverty. Certain colonies, such as Virginia, were founded chiefly by men who sought better economic opportunities; while others, such as ...
Índice
DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT | |
NEW WORLD DEMOCRACY AND OLD WORLD INTERVENTION | |
DEMOCRACY AND FREE LAND | |
DEMOCRACY AND SLAVERY | |
DEMOCRACY AND IMMIGRATION | |
DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION | |
DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY | |