As an historian, scientist (models & simulations) but not a lawyer -- merely a retired Army colonel, and very old, I get "little bird's" ranting, raving, and shit-slinging. When I went back to school to finish my degree after being drafted and sent to Viet-Nam, the Radical Historians were beginning to come to the fore, and by the time I entered grad school, certainly having an impact and an effect on the discipline.
Zinn, and later Jim Loewen, along with many others shifted the paradigm, as they say. How the American Experiment was being viewed and interpreted changed, and changed significantly for the most part. A sort of "Reality Bites" came to the profession, with much of what "little bird" mentions finally being addressed, at least within the ranks of those within the academe.
The Past is complicated, something that is generally reflected in how historians view it. The observation by Hartley from The Go-Between, "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," has become a cliche, but I think accurately reflects the issue facing historians, along with that of "objectivity," another kettle of fish...
Tolerance and moderation are not exactly hallmarks of American history; aspirations, certainly, but virtues rarely achieved. I have no problems with looking at the past of the United States and seeing the warts, faults, failures, et cetera, since they are scarcely able to be overlooked.
I once asked a class (graduate-level) whether any of them had actually read the entire Declaration of Independence -- and to be honest about it. One was the result of the inquiry, the others knew the preamble, but only an outline after that. Not a surprise.
The United States is both an Idea and an Experiment. It has an incredible messy, nasty, unpleasant past, one that is also complicated by the physical size of the.country, among other factors. I have always been fascinated as to how the South, however defined, tends to often be front-and-center of the narrative. Not to mention how class is often pushed into the background at many points along the way.
I think that "little bird" is missing the point of the column: that the United States is experiencing a situation somewhat similar to what resulted in the effort to reject its relationship with Great Britain, in the person of King George III. Donald Trump and the current form of the Republican Party has gone so far towards autocracy (and authoritarianism) as to prompt parallels to the past is to be expected. Trump is certainly appears to display narcissistic tendencies, along with more than a bit of megalomania it would seem. And, it certainly appears that the MAGA supports often resemble a cult in their devotion to Trump.
Although I have sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution of the United States since I was 19 years old, I am quite ready to see King Donald and his lickspittles go, and soon. I am quite slow to anger and become ready to support the overthrow of a president, but I am there. I arrived there long before this column, but as someone who has lived and operated in authoritarian countries over the years, it is time to take measures...
Hi Ted, we live in Chestertown and we’re friends back then🥰. Love this piece and look forward to your book. I am a direct descendent of a signer, Samual Chase. Our organization
will be meeting tomorrow at Independence Hall, as we do each July 4, for our annual DSDI
meeting.
Hope you are doing well. We are gutted at what is happening and it is tough staying positive
about our nation. FYI, we had 800 protesting in Chestertown for “No Kings”!!
I'm reading this on July 4th, a day whih has always been special to me for the obvious reason but also because my Ancestor, Judge Richard Stockton of New Jersey was a signer of the Document. Thanks for the insights Sir.
I am a graduate of Richard Stockton University and I am proud to be a sponsor to the University for all it has done for me these past 47 years working in the field of pediatric research. My thanks to your ancestors signature on The Declaration of Independence!!
All true as far as it goes, which is about to the end of the writer's nose. As a historian, scientist, lawyer, and grownup, I must object. Good grief … how old is this author? It’s written like a junior high school term paper. To wit:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
- Unlike what the author opines, this is ONE sentence not ‘sentences’. Check out where the period is located. That’s the first clue. Pedantic, perhaps, but predictive; read on.
'Equal rights for individuals was a harder problem, but almost a century later, when the grim work of the Civil War was completed, the 14th amendment promised “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens.’
- 'Grim work'? What pretentious crap. And how incredibly ignorant and deeply misogynistic. AMERICAN WOMEN HAVE NEVER HAD EQUAL PROTECTED FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS UNDER THE 14TH OR ANYWHERE. BECAUSE ALTHOUGH WE ARE OVER HALF THE POPULATION, WE ARE NOT IN THE CONSTITUTION. Only a seriously arrogant, clueless, dumb, self-absorbed male would say this with a straight face.
'For most of the last 249 years, the experiment has felt like it could be defined, empirically, as an extraordinary success. But lately there has been evidence of a troubling ambivalence towards ideas and ideals the founders held dear. In recent months, there has been a decided turn against science, with massive cuts to federal funding for research on diseases, pandemics, and the building blocks of life itself.’
- This is an absolutely ridiculous blanket statement that is in no way supported by our history — about which the writer seems to know f**k all. As to our 'extraordinary success', I put the achievement at barely 60 / 40; that is being generous and can only be claimed in comparison to some other backward countries, NOT to our supposed aspirations. The evidence of centuries of slavery and Jim Crow for both genders of African Americans alongside the centuries of slavery* of ALL American women (most recently specifically re-enforced in the Dobbs decision) begs to differ. Does being a white man account for your feelings of empirical success? So: ignorant, misogynist, AND racist. And ‘troubling ambivalence’? Do you even know what these words mean?? In many quarters of American society there is (and historically ALWAYS has been) obvious and violent antipathy toward the founders’ priorities, as well as science and empiricism in general. Clearly you have not been paying attention if you think the turning against science has only been happening in ‘recent months’ — are you living under a rock?
As you can probably tell by now, I definitely will not be buying your book. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and have not bothered to find out about our history beyond your own narrow and mostly baseless assumptions. Shallow, arrogant pretense to scholarship. Grow up, look around, and THEN write.
*Slavery is defined under international law as the abrogation of bodily autonomy, which SCOTUS did to ALL American women in Dobbs. We are slaves, not citizens.
The late historian of science, I. Bernard Cohen, wrote several books on the influence of Isaac Newton on the Founding Fathers. In particular, he believed that a famous illustration of "equipoise" in the English language versions of Newton's works, which showed three bodies motionless because of countervailing forces, influenced John Locke, and later John Adams, to think about the checks and balances of a three-branch government. He cites letters from John Adams on this point. Jefferson, who read Newton in the original Latin, was obviously well-versed in his theories too.
Thank you Ted for shining a light on the scientific influence of our great forefathers.
Snatching lightning from the sky and the scepter of power from our current cabal of tyrants is statistically very probable if free and fair elections continue. If not, then civil unrest in America will, once again, be the norm. And our children will not have as easy a time living life, being free and pursuing happiness as The Boomers have had it. Thus, all focus of The Resistance must be on protecting our right to vote and ensuring the numbers are accurately counted.
As an historian, scientist (models & simulations) but not a lawyer -- merely a retired Army colonel, and very old, I get "little bird's" ranting, raving, and shit-slinging. When I went back to school to finish my degree after being drafted and sent to Viet-Nam, the Radical Historians were beginning to come to the fore, and by the time I entered grad school, certainly having an impact and an effect on the discipline.
Zinn, and later Jim Loewen, along with many others shifted the paradigm, as they say. How the American Experiment was being viewed and interpreted changed, and changed significantly for the most part. A sort of "Reality Bites" came to the profession, with much of what "little bird" mentions finally being addressed, at least within the ranks of those within the academe.
The Past is complicated, something that is generally reflected in how historians view it. The observation by Hartley from The Go-Between, "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," has become a cliche, but I think accurately reflects the issue facing historians, along with that of "objectivity," another kettle of fish...
Tolerance and moderation are not exactly hallmarks of American history; aspirations, certainly, but virtues rarely achieved. I have no problems with looking at the past of the United States and seeing the warts, faults, failures, et cetera, since they are scarcely able to be overlooked.
I once asked a class (graduate-level) whether any of them had actually read the entire Declaration of Independence -- and to be honest about it. One was the result of the inquiry, the others knew the preamble, but only an outline after that. Not a surprise.
The United States is both an Idea and an Experiment. It has an incredible messy, nasty, unpleasant past, one that is also complicated by the physical size of the.country, among other factors. I have always been fascinated as to how the South, however defined, tends to often be front-and-center of the narrative. Not to mention how class is often pushed into the background at many points along the way.
I think that "little bird" is missing the point of the column: that the United States is experiencing a situation somewhat similar to what resulted in the effort to reject its relationship with Great Britain, in the person of King George III. Donald Trump and the current form of the Republican Party has gone so far towards autocracy (and authoritarianism) as to prompt parallels to the past is to be expected. Trump is certainly appears to display narcissistic tendencies, along with more than a bit of megalomania it would seem. And, it certainly appears that the MAGA supports often resemble a cult in their devotion to Trump.
Although I have sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution of the United States since I was 19 years old, I am quite ready to see King Donald and his lickspittles go, and soon. I am quite slow to anger and become ready to support the overthrow of a president, but I am there. I arrived there long before this column, but as someone who has lived and operated in authoritarian countries over the years, it is time to take measures...
Hi Ted, we live in Chestertown and we’re friends back then🥰. Love this piece and look forward to your book. I am a direct descendent of a signer, Samual Chase. Our organization
will be meeting tomorrow at Independence Hall, as we do each July 4, for our annual DSDI
meeting.
Hope you are doing well. We are gutted at what is happening and it is tough staying positive
about our nation. FYI, we had 800 protesting in Chestertown for “No Kings”!!
Take good care,
Deirdre LaMotte
Oh, sign me up now for that LoA history of the Declaration!
I'm reading this on July 4th, a day whih has always been special to me for the obvious reason but also because my Ancestor, Judge Richard Stockton of New Jersey was a signer of the Document. Thanks for the insights Sir.
I am a graduate of Richard Stockton University and I am proud to be a sponsor to the University for all it has done for me these past 47 years working in the field of pediatric research. My thanks to your ancestors signature on The Declaration of Independence!!
All true as far as it goes, which is about to the end of the writer's nose. As a historian, scientist, lawyer, and grownup, I must object. Good grief … how old is this author? It’s written like a junior high school term paper. To wit:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
- Unlike what the author opines, this is ONE sentence not ‘sentences’. Check out where the period is located. That’s the first clue. Pedantic, perhaps, but predictive; read on.
'Equal rights for individuals was a harder problem, but almost a century later, when the grim work of the Civil War was completed, the 14th amendment promised “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens.’
- 'Grim work'? What pretentious crap. And how incredibly ignorant and deeply misogynistic. AMERICAN WOMEN HAVE NEVER HAD EQUAL PROTECTED FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS UNDER THE 14TH OR ANYWHERE. BECAUSE ALTHOUGH WE ARE OVER HALF THE POPULATION, WE ARE NOT IN THE CONSTITUTION. Only a seriously arrogant, clueless, dumb, self-absorbed male would say this with a straight face.
'For most of the last 249 years, the experiment has felt like it could be defined, empirically, as an extraordinary success. But lately there has been evidence of a troubling ambivalence towards ideas and ideals the founders held dear. In recent months, there has been a decided turn against science, with massive cuts to federal funding for research on diseases, pandemics, and the building blocks of life itself.’
- This is an absolutely ridiculous blanket statement that is in no way supported by our history — about which the writer seems to know f**k all. As to our 'extraordinary success', I put the achievement at barely 60 / 40; that is being generous and can only be claimed in comparison to some other backward countries, NOT to our supposed aspirations. The evidence of centuries of slavery and Jim Crow for both genders of African Americans alongside the centuries of slavery* of ALL American women (most recently specifically re-enforced in the Dobbs decision) begs to differ. Does being a white man account for your feelings of empirical success? So: ignorant, misogynist, AND racist. And ‘troubling ambivalence’? Do you even know what these words mean?? In many quarters of American society there is (and historically ALWAYS has been) obvious and violent antipathy toward the founders’ priorities, as well as science and empiricism in general. Clearly you have not been paying attention if you think the turning against science has only been happening in ‘recent months’ — are you living under a rock?
As you can probably tell by now, I definitely will not be buying your book. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and have not bothered to find out about our history beyond your own narrow and mostly baseless assumptions. Shallow, arrogant pretense to scholarship. Grow up, look around, and THEN write.
*Slavery is defined under international law as the abrogation of bodily autonomy, which SCOTUS did to ALL American women in Dobbs. We are slaves, not citizens.
The late historian of science, I. Bernard Cohen, wrote several books on the influence of Isaac Newton on the Founding Fathers. In particular, he believed that a famous illustration of "equipoise" in the English language versions of Newton's works, which showed three bodies motionless because of countervailing forces, influenced John Locke, and later John Adams, to think about the checks and balances of a three-branch government. He cites letters from John Adams on this point. Jefferson, who read Newton in the original Latin, was obviously well-versed in his theories too.
Thank you Ted for shining a light on the scientific influence of our great forefathers.
Snatching lightning from the sky and the scepter of power from our current cabal of tyrants is statistically very probable if free and fair elections continue. If not, then civil unrest in America will, once again, be the norm. And our children will not have as easy a time living life, being free and pursuing happiness as The Boomers have had it. Thus, all focus of The Resistance must be on protecting our right to vote and ensuring the numbers are accurately counted.