American Values ...

WE THE PEOPLE: The 500-Year Battle Over Who Is American by Ben Railton is part of the American Ways Series from Rowman & Littlefield. Railton is Professor of English Studies and Coordinator of American Studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts.  In this new text he provides a general introduction, noting that ‘we’ is “an ambiguous pronoun” which has “consistently moved between two poles,” an exclusionary one and an inclusive one. Railton then uses eight chapters to discuss specific “case studies” from the history of the Americas, such as the Conquistadors, later Indian removal, Chinese exclusion, Japanese internment and discrimination against Muslims to illustrate his points, often by citing actions AND reactions of lesser known figures. The xenophobic and white supremacist comments he includes from the 1920s are chilling. Of course, this is also such a timely topic – The New York Times recently ran an article on What Makes an American? and today published a story on changing policy relative to green card holders.  

Although Railton clearly favors one perspective, he advocates for greater understanding and notes a significant number of sources, many of which, like Roger Daniels’ Coming to America, are in our collection and used frequently.  One that Railton neglected to mention is A Place at the Table by Maria Fleming which is similar in that it discusses (although much more briefly) several of the same examples of exclusionary practices in a generally chronological format. Also worth noting is Linda R. Monk’s use of numerous primary sources (and again, a chronological presentation) in her text titled Ordinary Americans that looks more at everyday experiences. Overall, Railton’s additional suggestions appear especially useful in that they encompass a number of publishers and relatively recent titles.  

JEFFERSON, MADISON, AND THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION by Jeff Broadwater is a newly published work from The University of North Carolina Press. Broadwater is an historian who has written texts about James Madison, George Mason and also about other revolutionary founders. This latest work is clearly well-researched (roughly a fourth of the book is notes and source lists) and likely to be of interest to faculty members. Broadwater makes the points “neither Jefferson nor Madison got the Constitution that he really wanted” and offers a thorough exploration of the two men’s “evolution of thought,” particularly in the context of events between 1776 and 1789. 

I originally requested  a preview of this title because I thought it might be used in our Civics classes in order to probe some of the history and concepts related to the Constitution.  Unfortunately, I think Broadwater’s text is too dense and assumes too much prior knowledge of American history (on the part of our students) to be useful in that way for high school classes. Other academics and historians are more likely to appreciate his work in comparing and contrasting these two statesmen, debating, for example Broadwater’s summary comment: “Jefferson left a more profound imprint on the American psyche. Madison made a greater impact on American law.”

American Presidents and Politicians on Memorial Day

Somehow it seems fitting to be looking at two new books that discuss American values and history on this Memorial Day holiday. Both are fairly scholarly in tone and while they focus on past events, their authors’ intent is to instruct, inform and to draw lessons for today.

The Jefferson Rule by David Sehat, an Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University, spans American history and argues that rather than exploiting and blithely quoting the Founders, our contemporary politicians should be engaging in more meaningful evaluation of policy. In an accessible way, he describes the partisanship of the Founders -- actually not a very coherent group and certainly not infallible.  Sehat deplores over-reliance on their writings and cites examples from the Civil War, New Deal, Reagan Revolution and Obama presidency. At one point, Sehat quotes Tony Judt: “The historian’s task is to tell what is almost always an uncomfortable story and [to] explain why the discomfort is part of the truth we need to live well…”

Published by Simon & Schuster, The Jefferson Rule received starred reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews and has a short video intro here. Although some students may not yet have enough background to fully appreciate Sehat’s many historical references, this title is worth considering as a required summer read for AP US History.

JFK and LBJ: The Last Two Great Presidents is written by Godfrey Hodgson, a British journalist who spent years as a White House correspondent and has authored numerous books about American politics. In this publication from Yale University Press, Hodgson argues that JFK’s reputation has been inflated and that Johnson’s reputation has been downplayed and as I read, I immediately thought of applying a similar argument to the contrast in how Americans tend to view Jefferson and Hamilton.  Although biased in his view, Hodgson nevertheless provides many details and close to 30 pages of footnotes while juxtaposing the strong personalities and many accomplishments of these two twentieth-century Presidents.  

Both of these titles encourage us to actively engage with history, looking through additional perspectives and reflecting this Memorial Day on the proverb: He who tells the story rules the world.