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New Basic History of the United States
Beards basic history of the United States
- GenresHistory
572 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
Charles A. Beard
229 books48 followersAmerican historian and educator Charles Austin Beard explored the aspects in works, such as
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution
in 1913; self-interests of formulators based the document in his view, which profoundly affected the study.
Mary Ritter Beard shared economic view of history of Charles Austin Beard, her husband, and they collaborated on first volume in 1927 of The Rise of American Civilization , which characterized northern capitalists, who perpetrated the Civil War as the "second American Revolution" over southern plantation owners for gain.
shared her husband Charles's economic view of history and collaborated with him on The Rise of American Civilization (first volume 1927), in which they characterized the Civil War as the "second American Revolution," perpetrated by Northern capitalists over Southern plantation owners for economic gain
Charles Austin Beard with Frederick Jackson Turner most influenced of the first half of the 20th century. He published hundreds of monographs and textbooks in political science. He included a radical re-evaluation and thought of more than philosophical principles that motivated the Founding Fathers of the United States. Charles Austin Beard with Mary Ritter Beard, his wife, wrote the wide-ranging and bestselling The Rise of American Civilization , most influential major book, in 1927.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...
Mary Ritter Beard shared economic view of history of Charles Austin Beard, her husband, and they collaborated on first volume in 1927 of The Rise of American Civilization , which characterized northern capitalists, who perpetrated the Civil War as the "second American Revolution" over southern plantation owners for gain.
shared her husband Charles's economic view of history and collaborated with him on The Rise of American Civilization (first volume 1927), in which they characterized the Civil War as the "second American Revolution," perpetrated by Northern capitalists over Southern plantation owners for economic gain
Charles Austin Beard with Frederick Jackson Turner most influenced of the first half of the 20th century. He published hundreds of monographs and textbooks in political science. He included a radical re-evaluation and thought of more than philosophical principles that motivated the Founding Fathers of the United States. Charles Austin Beard with Mary Ritter Beard, his wife, wrote the wide-ranging and bestselling The Rise of American Civilization , most influential major book, in 1927.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 27, 2015
The history is mostly good, inasmuch as there are no overaggressive moral claims as our current crop of historians feel obliged to place in their work. It is strictly fact based, and it provides a range of facts far exceeding that presented in most works of history, in large part because the Beards were early adherents of the study of the material influences on political and social development. In that sense it is more comprehensive--and more instructive--than any of the variety of textbooks we now use to teach high school students.
However--while there are no overaggressive moral claims in the work, there are moral claims hidden in the telling, and they are hidden in such a way as to make it easy to overlook their presence. This I have a problem with, because it is a way of distorting history that is very subtle. So, for instance, the figure of John C. Calhoun is discussed as a War Hawk senator and later the most aggressive of the Southern congressmen, but in their discussion of the Nullification Crisis of 1832 the Beards never mention his name, and they never mention his work as Vice President, in which office, largely because of the Nullification Crisis, he was one of the three most important occupants in our history, along with Thomas Jefferson and Richard Nixon. When discussing the literary output of the antebellum period, they give short shrift to the Disquisition on Government, and they do not mention the phrase 'concurrent majority' which is Calhoun's major idea. Instead it seems they give more credence to advances in surgery at the time, ignoring the fact that this was a period that did not know germ theory and whose advances, in light of the rate of surgical failure during the Civil War, can only be considered as minimal. In the same vein, the name of Henry David Thoreau does not appear--as though, in the literary advances of the antebellum period, neither Walden nor Civil Disobedience was of any importance.
In essence one has to be very careful reading this book, because the omissions are overwhelming, especially as regards the South. The name of Stonewall Jackson does not appear, despite the fact that he is one of the greatest of all American generals and his military strategy remains a subject of study. Regardless of whether you agree with the Confederate ideal, it seems to me almost impossible to discuss the Civil War and not mention Stonewall Jackson, whose death changes the course of it, if not necessarily the outcome. The same is true of J.E.B. Stuart, one of the great heroes, albeit in a losing cause, of American history. Ditto for John Randolph of Roanoke, one of the great politicians of the early Republic and an important influence on Southern conservatism, which was then and remains now an enormously influential trend in American politics.
The book takes for granted the role of the federal government and does not present in a serious manner the serious concept of 'states' rights' which Henry Adams, himself no states' rights proponent, called 'a sound and true doctrine.' And this to me is problematic. It takes the Hobbesian model of a Leviathan, growing at its subjects' expense, as the model of United States government--and it uses the Constitution as its justification for so doing. In that sense it parallels Richard Hofstadter's claim in The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It that the Constitution was created with Hobbes and Calvin as its primary intellectual progenitors.
According to Hobbes civil society is an implementation of God's will and when men join into it, the act of rebellion becomes theologically and morally wrong under any pretexts whatsoever. And in that line of thinking also comes Calvin, who says that men get the government they deserve, and if they get tyranny they must passively bear with it, as it is God's preordained wish for them to have it.
On the surface of it the attribution of intellectual debt from the Constitution to Hobbes and Calvin is a contradiction in terms. Under Hobbes' philosophical model there is no need for a Constitution, and the very act of writing one is most likely a dangerous evil. Under Calvin's model a Constitution is merely a waste of time and energy, since no human construction matters and only the will of God will prevail.
So, long story made long, I recommend this book with extreme caution, as a student both of political theory and of American History. It is better than much of what has been written, especially in its emphasis on the material foundations of American political and social development, but it is extremely problematic in several respects, all of which deserve to be noticed.
However--while there are no overaggressive moral claims in the work, there are moral claims hidden in the telling, and they are hidden in such a way as to make it easy to overlook their presence. This I have a problem with, because it is a way of distorting history that is very subtle. So, for instance, the figure of John C. Calhoun is discussed as a War Hawk senator and later the most aggressive of the Southern congressmen, but in their discussion of the Nullification Crisis of 1832 the Beards never mention his name, and they never mention his work as Vice President, in which office, largely because of the Nullification Crisis, he was one of the three most important occupants in our history, along with Thomas Jefferson and Richard Nixon. When discussing the literary output of the antebellum period, they give short shrift to the Disquisition on Government, and they do not mention the phrase 'concurrent majority' which is Calhoun's major idea. Instead it seems they give more credence to advances in surgery at the time, ignoring the fact that this was a period that did not know germ theory and whose advances, in light of the rate of surgical failure during the Civil War, can only be considered as minimal. In the same vein, the name of Henry David Thoreau does not appear--as though, in the literary advances of the antebellum period, neither Walden nor Civil Disobedience was of any importance.
In essence one has to be very careful reading this book, because the omissions are overwhelming, especially as regards the South. The name of Stonewall Jackson does not appear, despite the fact that he is one of the greatest of all American generals and his military strategy remains a subject of study. Regardless of whether you agree with the Confederate ideal, it seems to me almost impossible to discuss the Civil War and not mention Stonewall Jackson, whose death changes the course of it, if not necessarily the outcome. The same is true of J.E.B. Stuart, one of the great heroes, albeit in a losing cause, of American history. Ditto for John Randolph of Roanoke, one of the great politicians of the early Republic and an important influence on Southern conservatism, which was then and remains now an enormously influential trend in American politics.
The book takes for granted the role of the federal government and does not present in a serious manner the serious concept of 'states' rights' which Henry Adams, himself no states' rights proponent, called 'a sound and true doctrine.' And this to me is problematic. It takes the Hobbesian model of a Leviathan, growing at its subjects' expense, as the model of United States government--and it uses the Constitution as its justification for so doing. In that sense it parallels Richard Hofstadter's claim in The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It that the Constitution was created with Hobbes and Calvin as its primary intellectual progenitors.
According to Hobbes civil society is an implementation of God's will and when men join into it, the act of rebellion becomes theologically and morally wrong under any pretexts whatsoever. And in that line of thinking also comes Calvin, who says that men get the government they deserve, and if they get tyranny they must passively bear with it, as it is God's preordained wish for them to have it.
On the surface of it the attribution of intellectual debt from the Constitution to Hobbes and Calvin is a contradiction in terms. Under Hobbes' philosophical model there is no need for a Constitution, and the very act of writing one is most likely a dangerous evil. Under Calvin's model a Constitution is merely a waste of time and energy, since no human construction matters and only the will of God will prevail.
So, long story made long, I recommend this book with extreme caution, as a student both of political theory and of American History. It is better than much of what has been written, especially in its emphasis on the material foundations of American political and social development, but it is extremely problematic in several respects, all of which deserve to be noticed.
May 19, 2009
Quite interested to get a perspective of America before the World Wars and the prohibitions. They cut out unnecessary battle explanations and focus on the events which lead up to wars and resulted from them. This book is part of Project Gutenberg and Librivox.org, so its easy to find!
September 13, 2007
I just inherited a 1944 edition of this book. It's a classic and a much more pleasant read than your high school textbook.
June 5, 2010
An interesting take on history; not focusing on individuals and battles, but on economics and social pressures.
March 28, 2012
A well written book about the histroy of the US. I found it very informative and easy to read as it doesn't get bogged down in minute details of battles fought in distant pasts.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews