Historical Viewpoints: Notable Articles from American Heritage, Volume II (9th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: History as Literature
Review: These articles were selected from "American Heritage" to provide in-depth details missing from general history books. They do not teach 'official history', so expect to have your assumptions challenged by fresh points of view. Good history should be enjoyed like good literature. The two dozen articles can't be easily summarized.

David Hapgood's article on Henry George explains the origin of the "Single Tax", and how this theory evolved from observed facts. Richard Hofstadter's essay seems like advocacy, not history, and is not as good as the surrounding articles. Thurman Arnold's article on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act points out the twin evils of concentrated economic power: high prices due to a lack of competition, and the destruction of local businesses and draining away of local capital. John Garraty reconsiders William Jennings Bryan as a progressive Democrat and a Fundamentalist Christian. John Scott's article on Jane Addams tells how a charity can gain popular support, and then use this for political purposes. Robert Gallagher's interview with Alice Paul explains the need for a federal amendment rather than using state referenda. William Leuchtenburg doesn't tell what bankers, merchants, and manufacturers wanted with the Spanish colonies in the Pacific. Corporate controlled newspapers created "American gullibility about foreign affairs" (p.209). Harold Larrabee tells of the American opposition to imperialism (p.219).

Thomas Bailey lists Woodrow Wilson's skill as a rhetorician ("the war to end wars"). His "Fourteen Points" was a masterpiece of propaganda. Colonel T. N. Dupuy says "the U.S. government, its senior leaders, and its commanders in Hawaii had had sufficient information to be adequately warned that an attack was possible, and had had time to be prepared to thwart or to blunt the blow" (p.235). Charles Mee Jr. provides a nicely balanced interpretation of the Cold War. This continued WWII prosperity built upon deficit spending. Page 269 explains why the use of atomic bombs was not necessary. John K. Galbraith analyzes the causes of the Great Depression after the prosperity of the 1920s. One cause was the bubble in corporate investments, a pyramid of holding companies. The stock market boomed as securities would greatly increase in value even if they never paid a dividend! David Rothman explains how low wages and periodic unemployment created poverty among wage-earners. David Bennett tells of the Townsend Plan and its flawed "value added" sales tax that would have hurt workers. Allan Nevins considers FDR's place in history. His greatness was a product of his situation (p.317); FDR used other men's thoughts (p.318).

Richard Wade analyzes "The American City", and the progress from 1900 to 1970 (p.331). Corruption in the cities reflected a diverse and non-egalitarian society, different from small towns. Suburbs grew from railroads and then automobiles; but they are no more self-sufficient than the cities (p.339). Larry King writes about LBJ and the failure of Vietnam. Was LBJ in control or being controlled (pp.353-5)? John Brooks tries to describe the broad trends of American society and the change in traditional attitudes and values. He makes many assumptions (pp.376-7). Ray Billington's essay indulges in question-begging. His anecdotes are interesting, but lack facts. The 'Epilogue' by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. reminds us of the pessimism of the Founding Fathers (p.392). They feared that the Republic would end a failure due to "commerce, luxury, and avarice". The quote from Woodrow Wilson is funny (p.397). JFK said "there cannot be an American solution to every world problem" (p.399)