Book Review: United States: Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900123 |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| Author | G. M. Craig |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Boox
REvIEWS
99
eggheads
and
the fatheads".)
In
each
of
the
areas
examined,
he
pre-
sents
the
view
that
intellectual
standards
have
been
damaged
by
three
characteristically
American
demands-spontaneity,
democracy
and
prac-
ticality.
The
first
and
last
essays,
those
on
religion
and
education,
are
brilliant
and
original;
the
chapters
on
"anti-intellectualism"
in
politics
and
business
are
less
original,
but
very
little
less
interesting.
Each of
the
themes
is
illustrated
by
a
wealth
of
detail. Quotations
are
chosen
with
a
sharp
eye
to
both
entertainment
and
evidence.
Perhaps
the
best,
which
in
some
ways
characterizes
all
the
themes
of
the
book,
comes
from
the
Georgia
Assemblyman
who
declared:
"Read
the
Bible.
It
teaches
you
how
to
act.
Read
the
hymnbook.
It
contains
the
finest
poetry
ever
written.
Read
the
almanac.
It
shows you how
to
figure
out
what
the weather
will
be.
There
isn't
another
book
that
is
necessary
for
anybody
to
read,
and
therefore
I
am
opposed
to
all
libraries."
More
startling,
and
more
tragic,
is
the
remark
of
the
"life
adjustment"
educator
who,
in
listing
the
types
of
children
for
whom
the
regular
school
system
was
unsuitable,
ran
the
gamut
from
the mentally
and
physically
halt,
lame
and
blind
to
the
"extraordinarily
gifted".
Some
reviewers have
complained
that
after
a
brilliant
beginning
the
book
fails
because
the
final
chapter
is
neither an adequate
sum-
mation
nor
a
stirring
call
for
American eggheads to
unite.
This
criticism
misses
the
mark.
Professor
Hofstadter
is
an
extremely
sensitive
intel-
lectual
and
one
who,
though
he
has
not
been
called
to
serve
on
the
New
Frontier
(being
a
Columbia
man),
realizes
that
the
intellectual
in
a
mass
democracy
faces
an
insoluble
dilemma.
If
he
alienates
himself
from
society
he
is
in
danger
of
acting irresponsibly both
intellectually
and
morally;
if
he
becomes
too
absorbed
in
society,
he
is
in
danger
of
becoming
a
prostitute.
As
Hofstadter
sums
up,
without
attempting
to
resolve
the
dilemma:
"The
characteristic intellectual
failure
of
the
critic of
power
is
the
lack
of
understanding
of
the
limitations
under
which
power
is
exercised.
His
characteristic moral
failure
lies
in
an
excessive
concern
with
his
own
purity;
but
purity
of
a
sort
that
is
easy
where
responsibilities
are
not assumed.
The
characteristic
failure
of
the expert
who
advises
the
powerful
is
an
unwillingness
to
bring
his
capacity
for
independent
thought
to
bear as
a
source
of
criticism."
In
sum,
then,
this
is
a
brilliant
and
absorbing
study.
In
reading
It
one
Is
constantly
struck
by
the
Canadian
parallels.
One
is
also
struck
by
the
feeling
that
"anti-intellectualism"
has
been
a
much
less
potent force
in
Canada,
but largely
because
our
"intellectualism"
has
likewise
been
less
impressive.
Univermity
of
Toronto
RAMSAY
COOK
MAN'asT
DEStINY
AND
MISSION
IN
AMERIcAN
HISTORY.
A
Reinterpreta-
tion.
By
Frederick
Merk.
1963.
(New
York:
Alfred
A.
Knopf.
Toronto:
Random
House. ix,
265pp.
$7.50)
It
is
frequently
stated
in
text-books
that
the
idea
of
Manifest
Destiny
has
been
a
persistent
theme
in American
history,
that
in
the
1840's
and
1890's
it
had
a
particularly
strong,
even
controlling,
grip
on
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