Fascinating take. The past few decades have basically made me question everything I was taught about US history. Certainly the omission of genocide and the oh-by-the-way of founding fathers enriching themselves on the free labor of enslaved persons. Of course any human enterprise is going to be fraught and contentious and flawed. That ph…
Fascinating take. The past few decades have basically made me question everything I was taught about US history. Certainly the omission of genocide and the oh-by-the-way of founding fathers enriching themselves on the free labor of enslaved persons. Of course any human enterprise is going to be fraught and contentious and flawed. That phrase, A more perfect union, has bugged me forever. Obama, admirable though he was in many ways, would trot that out once in a while. Four words that mean nothing in the face of Trump’s active contempt for our (oh so flawed) Constitution. I wonder what they might have done differently had they admitted that any human enterprise is inherently flawed, never perfect.
It’s funny. I’d never thought before about how the phrase ‘a more perfect Union’ makes no sense.
I omitted this from the piece, but the democratic system also really failed to prevent the genocide of the Indians. It was far from a foregone conclusion what happened - usually our textbooks paint it as a kind of tragic situation rather than as a series of questionable policies. Washington and the early Congresses really were very insistent on preventing expansion and honoring treaties. Starting, really, with Jackson, the democratic system proved completely incapable of honoring its own existing agreements.
Fascinating take. The past few decades have basically made me question everything I was taught about US history. Certainly the omission of genocide and the oh-by-the-way of founding fathers enriching themselves on the free labor of enslaved persons. Of course any human enterprise is going to be fraught and contentious and flawed. That phrase, A more perfect union, has bugged me forever. Obama, admirable though he was in many ways, would trot that out once in a while. Four words that mean nothing in the face of Trump’s active contempt for our (oh so flawed) Constitution. I wonder what they might have done differently had they admitted that any human enterprise is inherently flawed, never perfect.
It’s funny. I’d never thought before about how the phrase ‘a more perfect Union’ makes no sense.
I omitted this from the piece, but the democratic system also really failed to prevent the genocide of the Indians. It was far from a foregone conclusion what happened - usually our textbooks paint it as a kind of tragic situation rather than as a series of questionable policies. Washington and the early Congresses really were very insistent on preventing expansion and honoring treaties. Starting, really, with Jackson, the democratic system proved completely incapable of honoring its own existing agreements.
Thanks Julie!
Yeah, Jackson's actions were pre evil.