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"AGE OF REFORM, THE"   Term Paper ID:19189 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: (Richard Hofstadter). Critical review of study of Amer. politics from 1890 to 1940.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Richard Hofstadter). Critical review of study of Amer. politics from 1890 to 1940. Paper Introduction: THE AGE OF REFORM The Age of Reform by Richard Hofstadter won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1956. The book was acclaimed because the author examined the political growth in America from the years 1890 to 1940, explaining the reform movement through several key figures, primarily William Jennings Bryan and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In summarizing the book, it can be noted that Hofstadter divides his discussion into seven chapters. By beginning with an analysis of what he calls "the Agrarian Myth" and moving on to the reasons for populism, the study is able to focus on Bryan as a personification of what was needed in America. As a political leader, Bryan was President Wilson's Secretary of State from 1913 to 1915. During this time he helped in Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. has learnedto understand how to best take advantage of democracy. This brings us to an evaluation of the book. This of course reached a peak as F.D.R. ultimately needed to bring the country out of theDepression. There is no doubt that this country has patterns and cycles thatdisplay America as an evolving socioeconomic force. This book is no apology for the overindustrialization of America.If anything, Hofstadter sees it as America's destiny to become the leaderin the industrial world, a fact that was borne out by World War II. For example, hereis F.D.R. was suchan individual, and he too was able to pull away Republican voters in theMugwump tradition. "The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of ourcivilization. And this isthe case because Hofstadter is a student of all civilizations, not just theAmerican one that the book concentrates on. Because of this, he is able todraw on literature from past centuries in order to explain what is going onat any given time that he is analyzing. He does not judge the various progressive leaders. was given to the same kind of hyperbole that Bryan used, onlythe different era required a different form of rhetoric. The Age of Reform brings up as manyquestions as it answers, but Hofstadter does well in distinguishing betweenmyth and reality as he paints the portrait of an evolving America from 189 to 194 . Hecould contrast the figures in his study with corresponding figures in thelast fifty years. If F.D.R. (1955). in a speech that helped him to get elected during the Depression. The evidence for Hofstadter's point of view is clear in the passageof the country from the agrarian basis to the ever-more evolvingurbanization of America. 25). When the agrarian myth is being weighed for its validity, the authorbrings in Samuel Johnson, who is quoted as saying "there is, indeed,scarcely any writer who had not celebrated the happiness of rural privacy "(p. Examples like these show what America started to go through as thetension between the agrarian myth and the ever-increasing urbanization tookplace. Blaine, in order to votefor Grover Cleveland, who was the Democratic nominee. In other words, he comes to gripswith each major event in the context of the 2 th century. 137). This gives the book a perspective of history much greater than thetime frame under discussion. In chapterV, "The Progressive Impulse," he carries on a finely-tuned analysis of theurban scene and one of its worst by-products: the muckraking that occurredin journalism. As a political leader, Bryan was President Wilson's Secretary ofState from 1913 to 1915. took theindustrialization to full capacity with the war machine in the 194 s. 326). 288) then the enlightened American hadbest steal away on the next ocean liner with his copies of the AmericanMercury for company. "The newly rich, the masters of the greatcorporations, were bypassing the men of the Mugwump type " (p. That older isolation wasshattered by World War II, and it can be argued that the industry of thatconflict was what F.D.R. References Hofstadter, Richard. One element of The Age of Reform that probably helped it to receivethe Pulitzer Prize is Hofstadter's acute understanding of all history.Consequently, when he is taking apart the agrarian myth, he can show howthe proponents of the myth drew "heavily upon the authority and rhetoric ofclassical writers-Hesiod, Xenophon, Cato, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, andothers " (p. 95). We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths " (p.3 3). To the contrary, Hofstadter is most interested withthe American character, and he understands that the populist appeal of aman like Bryan was also captured by Roosevelt. This is how the agrarian issue fused with populism:"Populism and Bryanism were the last attempt to incorporate what I havecalled the 'soft' side of the farmer's dual character " (p. By beginning with an analysis of what hecalls "the Agrarian Myth" and moving on to the reasons for populism, thestudy is able to focus on Bryan as a personification of what was needed inAmerica. He wants to examine how things work, ratherthan point a finger at, for example, the economic failure of the Depressionand declare it a weakness of reform. Vann Woodward in hisacknowledgments. To this extent, Hofstadter shows that this era is not that differentfrom our own today, something that is evident when he suggests that "to anextraordinary degree the work of the Progressive movement rested upon itsjournalism " (p. Possibly it is best to give Hofstadter his point that the time periodhe discusses is indeed an "age of reform." It is not impossible to arguethat the period following World War I, with its "lost generation," hadlittle to do with Depression era motivations to put bread oh the table.But the author does his best to tie in the elements in a chronologicalfashion, showing that it is only through cycles that the U.S. What is interesting about Bryanis that he is most commonly identified with his image as the religiousfundamentalist in the Scopes trial. The Age of Reform. One can see that theperiod following the Civil War to 189 was an extraordinary time ofreconstruction and reevaluation. But this political bias does not prevent him from seeingthe truth that each era reveals about the American character. The book was acclaimed because the author examined thepolitical growth in America from the years 189 to 194 , explaining thereform movement through several key figures, primarily William JenningsBryan and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. However, this is not to say that the point of view that emerges isone of condescension. In addition to having a firm grasp of historical context, Hofstadteris obviously well-read as an individual. Through the Depression, the author is able to show how the UnitedStates needed a leader to give it a sense of solidarity. From this juncture, Hofstadter moves into a profound examination ofthe Mugwumps, especially in the first section of chapter IV, "ThePlutocracy and the Mugwump Type." This slang term referred to theRepublicans who deserted their party nominee, J.G. New York: VintageBooks.----------------------- 7 was somewhat unclear on what those"ancient truths" actually were, but the phrase has an excellent ring to it,just as Bryan's fundamentalist quoting from the Bible did. and the New Deal are the subject of the finalchapter, which itself ends with a trend that Hofstadter refers to as "theNew Opportunism." "Much of America still longs for a return of the older individualism" (p. During this time he helped in the passing ofreform measures. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses of this reform movementthat transformed the country, yet the author primarily sees this change asinevitable. This is the way the book summarizes the mood that wasprevalent at the end of its time-frame--194 . What is remarkable about The Age of Reform is that theauthor keys in on process. THE AGE OF REFORM The Age of Reform by Richard Hofstadter won the Pulitzer Prize forHistory in 1956. The author's point of view here is America is a dynamic country thatresponds to a certain type of individual. Hofstadter is very accurate in writing about H.L. Mencken's criticalassessment of Bryan, and he admits that "if American intelligence could bemeasured by the Scopes trial" (p. It could be argued that F.D.R. F.D.R. In summarizing the book, it can be noted that Hofstadter divides hisdiscussion into seven chapters. It would appear that the author is a liberal,as he thanks people like David Reisman and C. F.D.R. It might be argued thatHofstadter makes too much of the 189 -194 time frame as indicative ofreform. 26). As Hofstadter allows, Progressivism ultimately won out over thisbreed of political animal. If Bryan spoke to a fundamentalist impulse in America,Ronald Reagan tapped into a similar vein with his emphasis on traditionvalues in the country. F.D.R. The fact that the book ends with 194 suggests that the author couldeasily write another volume and take the country up to the present. 186), (We can see how true this is when members of theSenate Judiciary Committee during the Clarence Thomas hearings werecontinually quoting from various newspapers to make their points.) What the author is intent on doing throughout the book is tochronicle change as it takes place, without drawing a value judgment.Therefore, the Roaring 2 s give way to the Depression, which in turn leadsto World War II. was portrayed as a Democratic leader who emerged out of aprivileged family background to create the New Deal, President Kennedy(J.F.K.) continued this tradition of the blueblood aristocracy taking overthe White House with the New Frontier. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.