Beneath the surface of the apparently untutored and deceptively frank Abraham Lincoln ran private tunnels of self-taught study; a restless philosophical curiosity; and a profound grasp of the fundamentals of democracy. Now; in Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction; the award-winning Lincoln authority Allen C. Guelzo offers a penetrating look into the mind of one of our greatest presidents.If Lincoln was famous for reading aloud from joke books; Guelzo shows that he also plunged deeply into the mainstream of nineteenth-century liberal democratic thought. Guelzo takes us on a wide-ranging exploration of problems that confronted Lincoln and liberal democracy--equality; opportunity; the rule of law; slavery; freedom; peace; and his legacy. The book sets these problems and Lincoln's responses against the larger world of American and trans-Atlantic liberal democracy in the 19th century; comparing Lincoln not just to Andrew Jackson or John Calhoun; but to British thinkers such as Richard Cobden; Jeremy Bentham; and John Bright; and to French observers Alexis de Tocqueville and François Guizot. The Lincoln we meet here is an Enlightenment figure who struggled to create a common ground between a people focused on individual rights and a society eager to establish a certain moral; philosophical; and intellectual bedrock. Lincoln insisted that liberal democracy had a higher purpose; which was the realization of a morally right political order. But how to interject that sense of moral order into a system that values personal self-satisfaction--"the pursuit of happiness"--remains a fundamental dilemma even today.Abraham Lincoln was a man who; according to his friend and biographer William Henry Herndon; "lived in the mind." Guelzo paints a marvelous portrait of this Lincoln--Lincoln the man of ideas--providing new insights into one of the giants of American history.About the Series: Combining authority with wit; accessibility; and style; Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer; they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics; from philosophy to Freud; quantum theory to Islam.
#189697 in Books James T Fisher 2007-11-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.40 x .80 x 8.10l; .58 #File Name: 0195333306176 pagesCommunion of Immigrants A History of Catholics in America
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Must read for all american CatholicsBy LennyExcellent read on the history of Catholicism in America.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy PaulArrived in perfect condition. A good read thus far as well.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A COMPREHENSIVE (YET COMPACT) SURVEY OF THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN CATHOLICSBy Steven H ProppJames T. Fisher is professor of history and theological studies at Saint Louis University; he has also written books such as Catholics in America; On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader; the Movie; and the Soul of the Port of New York; Catholic Counterculture in America; 1933-62; etc.He wrote in the Preface to this 2002 book; "The Catholic church grew enormously as a result of the mass immigration of European peoples to America between the 1840s and early 1920s... America is a nation of immigrants and the story of Catholics in America is largely the story of an immigrant church. The influx of an extraordinarily diverse population of newcomers since the 1960s has reinvigorated the church. The devotion of these immigrants and their families has shown once again that the Catholic experience is an integral force in the life of the nation."He notes; "Puritans were zealous Protestants determined to eliminate all remnants of 'popery' or Catholic practice; in England as well as in her colonies... In 1654... Puritan zealots repealed the Act of Religious Toleration and ushered in an era of intolerance toward Catholics that would persist until the American Revolution." (Pg. 18) He adds; "In the early years of the nation; the great majority of American Catholics; like most of their fellow citizens; were more concerned with pursuing opportunities for themselves and their families than with issues of church governance.." (Pg. 31)He says; "In 1832 a young woman named Rebecca Reed began telling tales [see: Veil of Fear: Nineteenth-Century Convent Tales] of her alleged 'escape' from a convent school... though she had actually been expelled from the school for dishonesty... The best-known example of this literary form; Maria Monk's Awful Disclosures of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery of Montreal... It was the best-selling work of literature in American prior to the publication in 1852 of Uncle Tom's Cabin... Monk's fabricated tales of illicit relations between priests and nuns appealed no only to rabid anti-Catholics but to many Americans who believed that such secretive organizations ... did not properly belong in an open and democratic society. Catholicism was viewed by many as both foreign and mysterious; themes that provoked highly mixed feelings in mid-19th century America." (Pg. 46)He admits; "American Catholicism's treatment of African Americans did not differ notably from that of other Christian denominations in the decades prior to the Civil War. Until the 1830s; Jesuits in Maryland owned slaves; though many younger members of the community wished to see them freed...Because the great majority of American Catholics lived in the north; the Union's triumph enhanced the confidence of the immigrant church as well." (Pg. 53; 57)He states; "Like other Catholic immigrant groups; Italians settled primarily in the larger industrialized cities... In New York; Philadelphia; and other eastern cities; the overwhelmingly Catholic Italians were often scorned by Irish and German American priests in whose territorial parishes they had settled; Italians were sometimes even relegated to attending separate masses in church basements." (Pg. 73) He adds; "The new Catholic communities of the late 19th century differed from each other in important respects; but they each experienced a tension akin to that of the Polish Americans' struggle between those who defined their identity primarily in terms of a new commitment to the church in America and those who wished to maintain a stronger connection to the spiritual and cultural traditions of the homeland." (Pg. 77)This is an excellent; very informative; and quite readable survey of American Catholicism; that will be of great help to anyone interested in such an overview.
