I found it fascinating to read Wilentz from somewhat of an outsider\u2019s perspective, not being American and having never studied American history or read the American constitution. I have been told repeatedly told by American students at Davidson that I should not be considered an international student because \u201cthere\u2019s really no difference better Canada and the US\u201d. Reading Wilentz, the cultural differences and the historical roots of those differences become abundantly clear. Even Wilentz writes, \u201cThe Revolution\u2019s democratic impact forever changed the context of American politics and culture and brought ordinary Americans into public and political life, which fundamentally altered how they perceived themselves and others.\u201d Though I share many of the American cultural values including freedom, independence, property rights and class mobility, these values are not tied to my identity as a Canadian, but my identity as human being. I think these values are rooted in American identity because they are directly rooted in the events and teaching of American history, in a way that they are not in Canada \u2013 we got our independence in 1867, the last province joined in 1949 and we didn\u2019t have a national flag specified by statue law until 1965.<\/p>\n
Of all the texts we have read this semester, the first chapter of The Rise of American Democracy<\/i> by Sean Wilentz comes closest to what I think of as how American (and North American) history is traditionally told. Each page is peppered with the names of white men in prominent economic or political positions. (I also wonder if this is how American history is told because of the US culture often values individual identity, representation of every individual and the possibility of upward mobility for everyone) Even when the chapter discusses class differences, the discussion is limited to a comparison between the lifestyles and beliefs of urban and rural dwellers. At the end of the chapter, Wilentz does briefly discusses slavery in the context of the Philadelphia convention and summarizes the results as \u201cthe final draft avoided explicitly mentioning slavery [\u2026] But delegates effective barred the government from taking any action against slavery in the states\u201d. But, Wilentz does not discuss the impact of these events, nor does he mention anywhere the efforts by slaves of free Blacks to fight for and promote democratic values. By contrast, David Brion Davis focuses exclusively slaves and free blacks in this time period in chapter seven of Inhuman Bondage<\/i>. He details attitude towards slavery and changes to slave ideals of freedom, as well as chronicling the roles slaves played in revolutionary effects and the misgiving of many whites to involve slaves. Davis provides a parallel history that fills in many of the gaps in Wilnetz chronicle. Olivia provides a really valuable analysis of in her blog post \u201cThe Revolutionary War as a Precursor to the Civil War?\u201d of Davis and the role of slavery in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, demonstrating the value of analyzing history from multiple perspectives.<\/p>\n
Still, these chapters were the only historical texts you had read on American history, you would never know that there were Native peoples living in North America. Admittedly, we have moved forward on the timeline from European arrival an early interactions and I don\u2019t mean to imply that Wilentz or Davis are responsible for telling those parts of American history, however having read Taylor with his attention to marginalized populations, I am left wondering in what ways Native people were directly or indirectly involved in shaping the new American state.<\/p>\n
Davis, David Brion.\u00a0Inhuman Bondage<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I found it fascinating to read Wilentz from somewhat of an outsider\u2019s perspective, not being American and having never studied American history or read the American constitution. I have been told repeatedly told by American students at Davidson that I should not be considered an international student because \u201cthere\u2019s really no difference better Canada and … <\/p>\n
\nWilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy<\/em>. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.
\n*Olivia Rosen, “The Revolutionary War as a Precursor to the Civil War, http:\/\/sites.davidson.edu\/his141sp2014\/the-revolutionary-war-as-a-precursor-to-the-civil-war\/<\/a><\/p>\n