The Burned-over District

This volume is an expansion of the author's Ph.D. thesis at Harvard, where he was a graduate-student compatriot of Arthur Schlesinger Jr., both mentored by Arthur Schlesinger Sr. Dr. Cross grew up in Rochester, New York, and later was able to expand the book by virtue of being the curator of regional source materials at Cornell, during the Second World War--a college-age back injury caused him to be rejected for active military service. However, he taught at the Navy Submarine School at Groten, CN, one of the war years. The "Burned-over District" bore that name even at the time it existed, from the late 1820's to the late 1840's, because of its large and impassioned religious revivals, reported in news items nationwide. The historical question was, "Why had this phenomenon arisen in this locale, who participated, why, and what were the larger context and impacts?" In pursuing these questions, Cross stumbled into being one of the first "American social historians"; others in the discipline would shift their interests in that direction 15-20 years after publication of his work. (His fellow student, A. S. Jr., focused on Andrew Jackson, and became famous for his "Age of Jackson".) In the book Cross describes the many odd religious and communal (today we might say 'cult') groups that grew up in the area, and the great revivals that drew the rural population into urban centers during the parts of the summer when, for the most part, crops could be left to grow with minimal oversight. He ascribed the atmosphere of experimentation and readiness to listen to new thinking, to the people of Western/Upstate New York's having left exhausted New England soils, their easier migration westward being facilitated by the new Erie Canal, and their settlement in a less-defined social and economic environment. He used the Turner (Frontier) Thesis as his takeoff point, but from the vantage point of 2010, we can easily understand how rapid social change can disrupt old patterns and beliefs. One significant point is that these groups, revivals, speakers, and leaders dealt in social and ethical ideas that were "advanced" and "progressive" for the times, and a number of individuals and groups later became strong advocates of Abolition, pushing for the value positions and reforms that increased tensions and pressure on the South, until Secession and the Civil War rent the nation. One might say, although I don't know that Dr. Cross ever did, that "Some of the seeds of war were sown in

שנה

2006

שפה

English

הוצאה

Cornell University Press

מהדורות

1

עמודים

208

ISBN

9780801492327

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata