Blog Post 5- Mission and Manifest Destiny: Fact versus Myth

I enjoy watching and reading detective mysteries and trying to solve the mystery with the detective. One thing that is interesting to observe is the way a good detective will examine all of the facts and try not to allow what he or she thinks to be the truth to impact the discovery of the actual truth. This leads the detective to solve the mystery and the audience is filled with a sense of victory for its discovery.  Similarly, Frederick Merk tries to uncover the facts from the myth related to Manifest Destiny, the likely suspect in the mystery of American Western expansionism, and uncovers Mission as the truth to solving the case.

In Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation, Frederick Merk seeks to present a factual analysis of the events and issues related to the expansionist movement in the United States known as Manifest Destiny. Merk is a historian with some admirable qualifications. He was a student of the eminent historian of the West, Frederick Jackson Turner. He even took over Turner’s place at Harvard University (xi).  Throughout this work, he contends that many Americans were not in support of the idea of Manifest Destiny, but the politicians and newspapers used it as a ploy for their agendas, especially in dealing with the Mexican War (1846) and the Spanish American War (1899). He expresses that a “thesis that continentalist and imperialist goals were sought by the nation regardless of party or section, won’t do. It is not substantiated by good evidence. A better-supported thesis is that Manifest Destiny and imperialism were traps into which the nation was led in 1846 and in 1899, and from which it extricated itself as well as it could afterward” (p. 261). He further notes that a “truer expression of the national spirit was Mission. This was present from the beginning of American history, and is present, clearly, today. It was idealistic, self-denying, hopeful of divine favor for national aspirations, though not sure of it. It made itself heard most authentically in times of emergency, of ordeal, of disaster. Its language was that of dedication—dedication to the enduring values of American civilization” (p. 261). Merk clearly states throughout this book that the goal of expansion was not a matter of consensus. Therefore, he references sectionalism as a driving force in the attitudes of the American people towards expansion.  Moreover, Merk uses many newspaper sources and other such accounts and records to present his claims.

Merk notes the arrival of Manifest Destiny to the American idea of expansion, “In the mid-1840’s a form of expansionism novel in name, appeal, and theory made its appearance in the United States. It was ‘Manifest Destiny.’ The term was not wholly new. Phrases like it had been used before, but this precise combination of words was novel and right for a mood, and it became part of the language. It meant expansion, prearranged by Heaven, over an area not clearly defined” (p. 24). Moreover, “It meant opportunity to gain admission to the American Union. Any neighboring peoples, established in self-government by compact or by successful revolution, would be permitted to apply. If properly qualified, they would be admitted” (p. 24). Merk notes that the annexation of “Texas was a perfect example of how Manifest Destiny would work, a pattern to be copied by the remainder of the continent” (p. 46).

Merk notes that the penny press conveyed the propaganda of Manifest Destiny to the American people. It was “the chief purveyor of Manifest destiny to the nation” (p. 57). However, he states that Manifest Destiny “was a product, thus, of many forces, and the vigor with which it was disseminated was a product of others almost as numerous and powerful. But a single force is credited in some writings with having generated Manifest Destiny—a nationalism in an invigorated form, dating from the early 1840’s. This view has been suggested rather than carefully developed or defended. It is out of accord with the temper of the era” (p. 57).  

Merk argues that Manifest Destiny was not a ubiquitous movement with full support. Different sections of the country championed it at different times for different purposes. It was politically divisive as well. He states that “If the test of nationalism be public sentiment, the era was marked by sectionalism—sectionalism emerging from such issues of expansionism as Texas …and the Mexican War” (p. 57-58). Moreover, Merk asserts that: “The period of the Texas crisis was the foreground of the presidential election of 1844. It was filled with the extravagances of party campaigning, of the venom among Democrats, of factional infighting, and of bitterness produced in the sections by a clash over slavery. That a national spirit so strong and unified as to generate Manifest Destiny could have emerged from such a composite of disharmonies is inconceivable. The forces that produced Manifest Destiny were domestic for the most part. They were ample in number to account for Manifest Destiny, and among them one was undoubtedly powerful—the strong taste of expansionists for the doctrine of states’ rights” (p. 60).

Merk’s approach throughout is to present the historical facts and to counter the claim that most Americans shared the same views relating to Manifest Destiny. Moreover, good historical research is of paramount importance. In “American Nationalism and American Historians,” Edward Pessen states, “Since historians at whatever level must not merely recite the historical facts but must appraise them as well, we cannot confine ourselves to reporting the evidences of nationalism in the American past. We must ponder the implications and evaluate the significance of these evidences” (p. 5). However, Pessen mentions that bias is a fact that historians have to recognize. He states, “Anyone who thinks interpretation of nationalism can be done dispassionately or in a value-free or ideology-free way labors under a delusion” (p. 5).

Discovering the truth and trying to discern its implications is an important Biblical principle as well. For example the Bible references speaking truthfully in Ephesians 4:25, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Jesus also noted the truth’s result in John 8: 32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

                                                          Works Cited:

Merk, Frederick. Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A
      Reinterpretation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963.

Pessen, Edward. “American Nationalism and American Historians.” OAH Magazine
     of History 2, no. 4 (Fall 1987): 4-7, 19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162558.

Blog Post 4- The Eaton Affair

The Eaton Affair had an important impact on society during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Kirsten E. Wood notes that women exhibited a significant amount of influence on politics and society. Moreover, in Kirsten Wood’s article, “‘One Woman so Dangerous to Public Morals’: Gender and Power in the Eaton Affair,” she discusses the powerful role women had in influencing men in positions of leadership.

Margaret Eaton is “known to history because of her infamous place in Jackson’s presidency, but her notoriety had its origins in her upbringing at the perimeter of the highest circles of Washington society” (p. 244). According to an article by J. Kingston Pierce, “Margaret Timberlake tended toward flirtatiousness, enjoyed serving men in her family's tavern, and shared her opinions and jokes too loudly and liberally-led others in the capital to presume that she was a wanton woman. Eaton, though, saw her quite differently” (p. 22).

Margaret O’Neale Timberlake Eaton, then, was considered a loose woman because she worked in her father’s tavern. Wood states that because “her father’s hotel was a favorite among the city’s officeholders, her family was well connected” (p. 244). After Margaret met John Eaton, later Jackson's Secretary of War, at her father’s tavern, they had some sort of relationship rumored to be an adulterous affair. To make matters worse for her reputation, she married John Eaton soon after her first husband’s death. This created much scandal, and the cabinet wives made certain that Margaret Eaton was not made to feel welcomed in their inner circle. Andrew Jackson defended Margaret Eaton. In What Hath God Wrought, Howe notes that Jackson “insisted that Margaret Eaton must be an innocent victim of slander, the same position he had taken in response to the accusations against Rachel (his wife). His argument was deductive rather than based on evidence” (p. 337).  

While reading about the Eaton Affair, I was reminded of an important truth found in Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Had Margaret Eaton practiced this verse, she may have saved herself and many others some negative consequences.

Kirsten Wood conveys that the snubbing of Margaret Eaton by the wives of Jackson's cabinet members was a form of displaying power. Wood notes that these “women saw themselves as powerful moral agents influencing the social order, however, Jackson’s supporters preferred to see only men as significant actors on the national stage. Therefore, if Jackson could convince his audience in Washington and the nation that men alone should be the arbiters of political morality, women’s role in the political order would be severely curtailed. In the end, Jackson’s side won out, undermining the legitimacy of women’s claims to political significance or moral guardianship and truncating the national political careers of Margaret Eaton’s leading antagonists” (p. 242). Therefore, in spite of his cabinet member’s wives snubbing Margaret Eaton, Jackson demanded that the wives welcome Margaret Eaton into their political circle. Thus, through the Eaton Affair, Jackson was able to demonstrate his power in a dramatic way. This did not mean, however, that the wives did not demonstrate power also. Because of their ability to cause a reaction from the President, they too exhibited a powerful role in Jacksonian politics. Even though it was subtle, this form of power was enough to cause a swift reaction from Andrew Jackson.

In spite of not being able to vote, the women of Andrew Jackson’s day displayed power and influence over the political climate of their times. From What Hath God Wrought, Howe notes this as well, “Women, although legally disfranchised, were not necessarily politically apathetic or inert” (p. 342). Women can use their influence and power in a positive or a negative manner. One only has to turn the television on to notice the depraved way in which women think they have to gain power. Sexually exploiting themselves and lowering their standards is not the way positive change will happen. Christian ladies need to practice a lifestyle of morality. Keeping our moral standards high and proclaiming the truth, we can make a positive influence in our sinful world.

                                                            Works Cited:

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America,
     1815-1848. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Pierce, J. Kingston. “Andrew Jackson and the tavern-keeper’s daughter.” American
     History 34, no. 2 (June 1999): 20-26.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/224076425/abstract?accountid=12085 (accessed September 26, 2013).

Wood, Kirsten E. “‘One Woman so Dangerous to Public Morals’: Gender and Power
     in the Eaton Affair.” Journal of the Early Republic 17, no. 2 (Summer 1997):
     237-275. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3124447 (accessed September 26, 2013).

Blog Post 3- Psychoanalysis and Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson is a complex man. The motivations of his actions remain curious and present quite a challenge to study. In Fathers & Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian, Michael Rogin attempts to psychoanalyze Jackson to understand better some of his actions, mostly in regards to his Indian policies and opinions. Rogin notes, “Historians, however, have failed to place Indians at the center of Jackson’s life. They have interpreted the Age of Jackson from every perspective but Indian destruction, the one from which it actually developed historically” (p. 4).

In Fathers & Children, Rogin shows that Jackson personified a coming change in America. He notes, “Jackson’s own family life—father dead at birth, mother in adolescence, traumatic early speech difficulty—prefigured in exaggerated form the problems of Jacksonian society. Returning to childhood, in Indian war, Indian treaties, and Indian removal, Jackson mastered its regressive appeal. He infused American politics with regenerated paternal authority” (p. 15). Rogin clearly argues, “Jackson first developed, in Indian relations, the major formulas of Jacksonian Democracy” (p. 166).

One of the definitive features of Rogin’s work deals with Jackson’s Indian policies and removal. He details at great length how Jackson made the Indians feel childlike, which caused them to want his help and allowed him to have the power as a father figure to protect them from the white people wanting to move into their land. Thus, Jackson placed himself in a position to remove the Indians without feeling guilty for his actions. According to Rogin, Jackson’s plan of removal gave the Indians little agency because Jackson viewed the Indians as children. However, Rogin fails to mention the nativist uprisings in the Indian culture. In Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America, Daniel Richter notes that, “Whatever may have been their attitudes toward the British, nativists among both Creeks and Shawnees had no doubts about who their real enemies were. Tenskwatawa insisted that Indians ‘were not to know the Americans on any account, but to keep them at a distance.’ Red Sticks called for the obliteration of ‘everything received from the Americans, [and] all the Chiefs and their adherents…friendly to the customs and ways of the White people’” (p. 230). Therefore, this picture shows that Indians did indeed exhibit some agency, unlike Rogin’s portrayal of Jackson’s paternalistic perspective of the Indians being like children.

The main weakness in Fathers & Children is Rogins use of psychoanalytical terms. I studied some psychology in my undergraduate studies, and even I had difficulty remembering some of the terms Rogin used. He should have described some of the terms, such as the superego and id, to help a reader not informed in psychological language better understand his arguments.

Moreover, Fathers & Children presents a negative description of Jackson. Although the man was certainly flawed, he has many admirable characteristics that are not necessarily adverse to his personality. For example, Rogin does describe his strength of character, but he presents it from a psychoanalytical point of view that makes Jackson seem reactive and harsh. Consequently, Rogin’s persistent attempt to psychoanalyze the motivations and actions of Jackson in dealing with the Indians did not settle well with me. It is very difficult to determine a person’s sole motivation in determining actions because people are complex. Albeit, Rogin had a plethora of facts and evidence for his research, it seemed as if he forced his information to fit his thesis.

Regardless of whether Jackson’s motives were psychoanalytical in removing the Indians from their land, he certainly did not live up to the Biblical principle found in Matthew 25:40, “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” This is an excellent biblical truth for us today, and we should remember it especially as it applies to some important social and political issues in our day. Human trafficking and abortion are horrible atrocities committed every day in our country. As Christians, we need to defend these innocent victims.

                                                            Works Cited:

Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early
     America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Rogin, Michael Paul. Fathers & Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the
     American Indian. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2009.  

Blog Post 2- James Madison’s Dedication to a Legacy of Freedom

Youth has become an obsession of almost unattainable reach to many people in our modern American society, and this is unfortunate. An emphasis on the older generation and their wisdom can be quite useful for leading and directing our country through different stages of its existence. An example of an older man instructing and using his age as a benefit to posterity is James Madison. In The Last of the Fathers: James Madison & The Republican Legacy, Drew R. McCoy tries to convey this point.

Instead of presenting the typical presentation of Madison, as he is known in his early career as an important promoter of republican ideals, McCoy states that his portrayal of Madison “focuses instead on a relatively neglected phrase of Madison’s republican odyssey, the period between his retirement from public office in March 1817 and his death on June 28, 1836” (xiii). Moreover, McCoy expresses that Madison truly did leave a legacy: “His two decades of retirement were fascinating and important years, both for him and for the republic whose history seemed inseparable from his own” (xiii). I think it important to note that in these last two lines, Madison should be viewed as someone who actually lived out his ideas and saw them expand to the next generation of Americans. Thus, he still had a place in society to make sure these republican ideals, understood correctly by the newer generation, were still being carried out.

Madison’s early career is quite remarkable. He started his political career at such a young age, and even then exhibited a significant dedication to espousing his views of republican government. In Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788 Pauline Maier states, “Although Madison was short, shy, and relatively young (he was thirty-six in 1787), his intellect and learning had won him respect among his more senior colleagues, including Washington. He helped write the plan of government that the Virginia delegation prepared while it waited for the Convention to meet, and he would later be called ‘the father of the Constitution,’ a title he had the grace to decline since it was, as he said, the work of ‘many heads & many hands’” (p. 36). Although this portrayal of Madison displays him as a young, capable politician, he still at this time commanded an air of respectability, which would carry on even to his later years. Madison, therefore, left a lasting legacy for posterity to glean important insights into the ideas of republican government.

The Bible speaks about hard work and dedication in Ecclesiastes 9:10, when it says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” This verse aptly fits Madison’s life because he was devoted to the cause of promoting his views of republican government. This dedication drove him at many times and in various ways throughout his service to his country to pursue ideals of republican government. McCoy in The Last of the Fathers mentions several of these incidents in his later life. One example that portrays Madison in his later years fighting for his principles is his role in the nullification crisis. In the brewing years before the crisis over the tariff issue exploded into the nullification crisis, James Madison responded.  Dew McCoy notes that “as the election of 1828 drew near, Madison broke his public silence only to urge his fellow citizens to conduct their political discussions ‘in a spirit and manner, neither unfavorable to a dispassionate result, nor unworthy of the great and advancing cause of Representative Government’” (p. 126).

An individual who presently has shown a dedication to his craft is Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimming champion. Watching the Olympics last summer with my family, we were amazed at the dedication this young man has to his craft. He woke up early in the morning, practiced swimming until he swam each stroke just right, ate well, exercised, and he did all of those things because he loves his sport and is committed to playing it correctly. This reminds me of James Madison as well. He was committed to his form of republican government and wanted to make sure that future generations correctly understood the principles he espoused throughout his life. We, therefore, have a choice: will we promote these ideals of freedom handed down to us from our Founding Fathers like James Madison, or will we forget them and walk in ignorance? The choice is ours. I hope we will choose to dedicate our lives to the causes of freedom as James Madison did and pass our recognized freedom down to posterity.

                                                             Works Cited:

Maier, Pauline. Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788. New
     York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

McCoy, Drew R. The Last of the Fathers: James Madison & The Republican Legacy.
     New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

In John Quincy Adams’s Executive Order in 1826, he lauded some of the most famous of the Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were influential in drafting the Declaration of Independence (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66658). The death of these two important leaders occurred on the same day, which was fifty years after the Declaration of Independence declared the American colonies separate from their mother country, Great Britain. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were influential with their use of rhetoric in shaping ideas and forming opinions relating to the importance of freedom and its legacy. Eleven years after his Executive Order, in the Newburyport Address of 1837 (http://archive.org/details/orationdelivered00adam), John Quincy Adams, John Adams’s son, is using convincing rhetoric to express the importance of remembering the truths espoused by the Declaration of Independence. He is once again stating the importance of the ideals of the founding of the United States.

In both of these documents, John Quincy Adams is stressing the importance of remembering either significant leaders who helped shape the direction of the country or the documents and reasons that impelled the nation to pursue liberty and freedom.  In the Executive Order, John Quincy Adams expresses that in the deaths of these two Founding Fathers, “A coincidence of circumstances so wonderful gives confidence to the belief that the patriotic efforts of these illustrious men were Heaven directed, and furnishes a new seal to the hope that the prosperity of these States is under the special protection of a kind Providence.” In addition, in his Newburyport Address of 1837, Adams states that the Declaration “laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” Consequently, John Quincy Adams in both of these speeches is reminding the people to remember the legacy of freedom they have.

Moreover, the idea of remembering the past and the significant ideas and events of the past is also a Biblical principle. The Bible often refers to the importance of remembering. God often told the prophets of the Old Testament to remind the Israelites to remember the things He had done in the past. Deuteronomy 6:12 expresses this theme of the importance of remembering the Lord and His deliverance.

These freedoms enumerated in both of John Quincy Adams’s texts rely on Biblical principles. Moreover, as Thomas Kidd makes clear in God of Liberty (2010), John Witherspoon emphasizes personal morality as necessary to ensure that the republic would endure. Kidd relates what Witherspoon expounded, “God would preserve the liberty only of the morally pure. Conversely, ‘nothing is more certain than that of a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue’” (p. 105-106). However, Kidd also states, “John Adams and James Madison (one of Witherspoon’s students), placed more confidence in the beneficial effects of good government, but Witherspoon avowed that no republic could survive without robust morality. Such morality could only arise out of authentic Christian faith” (p. 106). Therefore, it is essential for Americans to reflect on the importance of personal character in preserving our legacy of freedoms, which many men fought and died to protect because they believed in the intrinsic principles of liberty.

As Christians today, it would behoove us to practice what John Quincy Adams espoused in these two documents in remembering the causes and sacrifices of liberty and freedom and the Founders who instilled principles of freedom in our government. In addition, it is important to remember what Witherspoon said about the importance of morality in ensuring that the freedoms we have will endure.

Works Cited:

http://archive.org/details/orationdelivered00adam

Kidd, Thomas S. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution.
      New York: Basic Books, 2010.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66658