Colonial Search For A Southern Eden

1. The Elizabethan Dream of Wealth

I The Elizabethan Dream of Wealth D DRING THE PAST DECADE patriots of sundry sorts have exhorted Americans to study our history. A few years ago the New York Times made an investigation of the average American's knowledge of history and discovered that he had a mind discouragingly innocent of any taint of historical knowledge. Other investigators, professional and amateur, looked into the matter and exploded with alarming generalizations about our ignorance. Many an American couldn't say whether Old Hickory was a brand of liquor or a variety of smoked ham. A considerable number thought Christopher Columbus was an orchestra leader and Zachary Taylor a movie actor. The majority of people questioned were positive that Daniel Webster wrote the dictionary. A surprising number thought Tammany Hall was a place in New York where prize fights were held, but others contended that the Tweed Ring was the scene of such encounters. Some declared that the free silver movement was a campaign to raise money for the Red Cross. But perhaps the zenith of innocence was reached by the college boy who reported 2 The Colonial Search for a Southern Eden that the Missouri Compromise was a newspaper published in St. Louis. Exposures of American ignorance of history became a sort of pastime, and well-meaning citizens, better informed -they hoped-than the average, began to demand more American history in the schools. In some states the legislatures passed laws requiring college courses in American history for graduation. As high schools, colleges, and universities established new courses, the American Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other hopeful organizations sat back to contemplate the patriotism which these courses would engender. What the results have been, I have no way of knowing. As a teacher of American history for many years, I can report that some of the courses were illconceived and probably defeated their purposes. But we do need good American history, history which begins a long way back, because the history of the past enables us to see our own times in proper perspective. If official Washington understood history somewhat better , I am convinced that we would have more wisdom in government. History also provides a great amount of encouragement and consolation for the thoughtful reader. Ever since Adam encountered the archangel after eating the forbidden fruit, mankind has been constantly on the verge of disaster, and yet, somehow, we have managed to survive. If we take the trouble to investigate, we will discover that other ages were strangely like ours, and our ancestors often met and overcame difficulties uncannily like our own. At the present moment particu- The Elizabethan Dream of Wealth 3 larly we need to remember that our difficulties are not new in the world, and we can endure-and probably survive-as did our ancestors. In many respects, the Renaissance, if I may use that term of convenience for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, faced problems similar to ours. A new science was born and attained an astonishing development in those two centuries. Immense changes took place in the concepts of space and time in relation to the physical universe. The new science introduced infinite complexities , and added new confusions. Medicine, chemistry , physics, and astronomy made advancements which gave them a right to be called modern. Technology altered the living conditions of millions of men and women. Military and naval science changed the modes of warfare and increased the potentials for man's destruction of man. The improvement in artillery and small arms in these two centuries and the control of the explosive effects of gunpowder was as epoch-making as the use of atomic fission. The geography of the world completely changed, and with it came a change in men's imaginations. The discoveries in the New World must have seemed as marvelous-and as incredible-as the possibilities of interplanetary voyages today. Certainly the imaginings of the authors of what we call "science fiction" are hardly less fantastic than the tales which travellers brought back from the New World. To understand our own times we must begin our study of American history at least with the age of Elizabeth , for that age saw the development of many of the 4 The Colonial Search for a Southern Eden ideas, the social, intellectual, and spiritual movements which have determined the quality of the English-speaking world in later generations. Since our time...