George Washington (1984): From Surveyor to General
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In this election year, I am gravely concerned about the continuance of American democracy. These United States seem more divided than they have since the American Civil War, with partisanship and political extremism on the rise, and nakedly fascistic rhetoric bandied about willy-nilly by major party candidates. In the troublous times that face this nation, I think it is important to look back upon our history to the leaders (and ordinary citizens) who embody the best spirit of America’s democratic traditions, particularly as the knowledge many Americans have about them is often made up more of a fabric of apocryphal stories and hoary fables than real history. Perhaps if we know the stories of these great Americans, we can invoke their spirits and virtues, as John Quincy Adams does the founding fathers at the
George Washington (1984): From Surveyor to General
George Washington (1984): From Surveyor to…
George Washington (1984): From Surveyor to General
In this election year, I am gravely concerned about the continuance of American democracy. These United States seem more divided than they have since the American Civil War, with partisanship and political extremism on the rise, and nakedly fascistic rhetoric bandied about willy-nilly by major party candidates. In the troublous times that face this nation, I think it is important to look back upon our history to the leaders (and ordinary citizens) who embody the best spirit of America’s democratic traditions, particularly as the knowledge many Americans have about them is often made up more of a fabric of apocryphal stories and hoary fables than real history. Perhaps if we know the stories of these great Americans, we can invoke their spirits and virtues, as John Quincy Adams does the founding fathers at the