Summary Of Richard Hofstadter's Essay In The American Political Tradition

1. Who was Richard Hofstadter? When and why did he write the essays in The American Political Tradition? Was he well qualified to do so? Explain. a. Richard started writing The American Political Tradition in 1943, finished in 1947, and published in 1948. In the essay, he “made a number of interpretive and critical comments on certain political figures on whom he had done some special work or who particularly captured his interest.” However, the original title of his essay was Men and Ideas in American Politics, but changed it later for its consistent salability. b. Hofstadter subjected America’s heroes, and a few villains, to a critical scrutiny they had previously escaped, yet he did so without the bloodthirsty zeal we have
come to associate with “revisionist” history. The American Political Tradition exudes an air of maturity belying its authors later claim that it was “visibly a young man’s book.” c. Hofstadter defines history that it changes as people write, think, teach, and feel about past. d. Hofstadter associated with “consensus school” of history that shared and believed specific issues by people who have consensus. i. Consensus: An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole 2. “However much at odds on specific issues, the major political traditions have shared a belief in the right of property, the philosophy of economic individualism, the value of competition; they have accepted the economies virtues of capitalist culture as necessity qualities of man.” e. “The sanctity of private property, the right of the individual to dispose of and invest it, the value of opportunity, and the natural evolution of self-interest and self-assertion, within broad legal limits, into a beneficent social order have been staple tenets of the central faith in American political ideologies.” 3. He argues that the constitution was based on the Founders’ particular conception of the person. Founding Fathers believes that most men are evil, self-interested and they could not be changed, or at least not easily. f. The constitution, in one way, was founded on experience, from the observations the attitude about human is largely ubiquitous among the founders. g. Hofstadter wrote the modern American folklore “assumes that democracy and liberty are all but identical, and when democratic writers take the trouble to make the distinction, they usually assume that democracy is necessary to liberty. But the Founding Fathers thought the liberty with which they were most concerned was menaced by democracy. In their minds, liberty was linked not to democracy but to property.” 4. Hofstadter calls the founding fathers realists because “they thought man was a creature of rapacious self-interest, and yet they wanted him to be free…” h. Founders had no hope and offered none for any ultimate organic changed in the way men conduct themselves i. According to founding fathers, “balanced government” means to check interest with interest, class with class, faction with faction, and one branch of government with another in a system of mutual frustration. The balance within central government (checks and balances) means the house represents people and the senate represents states who serve for 6yrs and nobody votes them. The president is elected by electoral colleges. 5. By using Beard’s facts, Fathers were opposed to “democracy” and as arguing, they returned again to the idea of a “republic.” According to Hofstadter, there is no difference between Federalists and Republicans because they work in parallel. 6. I believe that they Founding Fathers made a contribution 7. Thomas Paine is _____. He argues the need for independence in Common Sense and explains why American’s should back the Radicals. It matters because this document was essentially read by almost all of the literate colonists throughout all the colonies. 8.
The Declaration of Independence was written to provide philosophical justification for rebellion for everyone and justified the creation of a new nation. This was written for the colonies and the international powers that the colonies needed help from. It is an important document in history because it provided a theory of revolution and a justification for rebellion. 9. Federalism – the federal principle of government; separation of federal and state powers/laws j. Separation of Powers - the principle or system of vesting in separate branches the executive, legislative, and judicial powers of a government. k. “Necessary and proper” - allows Congress "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the [enumerated] Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Also known as implied powers l. “Supreme law of the land” - indicates the Constitution is the ultimate authority to which all other laws and treaties must conform. 10. Judicial review is the power of courts of law to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches and is only implied in Article III of the Constitution. Implied powers is the power Congress has to make all laws which are “necessary and proper” for the
nation. 11. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers. These were written in support of the Constitution and pointed out the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. These papers were published in 1787. 12. The Federalist No. 10 was significant because he asks the questions of how to guard against factions with interests contrary to the rights of others or of the whole community interest. Even though the point was made in regards to the British ruling over the colonies, this is still valid today because one groups interests does not necessarily reflect those of the whole country.