Upon reading the excerpts from Josiah Strong’s Our Country, I could not help but be astonished by his writings that, in our time, are drenched in what is considered politically incorrect. He elicits his view that the Anglo-Saxon race is by far the most superior, and is destined to cast the world in its form because of its roots and inherent qualities of “pure spiritual Christianity” and “civil liberty.” His structure for his writing is of a supreme confidence that these ideals will be unstoppable as they “disposess…, assimilate…, and mold… until… it has Anglo-Saxonized mankind.” These words, however intolerant of other cultures and religions as they may sound, are but words of fear when taken into context with the rest of his book which speaks of the many dangers infringing upon the United States during this period. Much of his book, although not noted in Mathisen, is speaking at length of the problems caused by immigration, socialism, overcrowding of cities, and authoritarian religions such as Catholicism and Mormonism (Evans 55). These together are shown to be a great crisis that must be paid attention to if the image he has imagined is to take place.
Thus, his tact of influence begins with the portion published in Mathisen’s compilation. This is where he becomes the great propagandist for his ethnocentric views and delivers an argument based on loosely translated Darwinian theory demonstrating how Anglo-Saxons are not only the fittest of all mankind, but could, should, and would become THE power that “will spread itself over the Earth.” Strong’s understanding of the current and future strength of the United States as a burgeoning world power propelled him to demonstrate and persuade how the country should be controlled by those he saw fittest to do so. His writing here is to convince and embolden the average and above-average Anglo-Saxon to action in order to prevent their God-given right to leadership of America from being taken away. Essentially, he is transmitting his hope for the Anglo-Saxon race seeing not only the dangers taking shape against it within our country but also the opportunities at that moment in time to shape how the US was to be formed then and what kind of nation it would become in the future. This push to legitimize Anglo-Saxon superiority still lingers in our country to this very day as his writings influenced many leaders at the time and they, in turn, have guided others, perhaps the whole country, into a mindset of superiority.
Resources:
1. Mathesin, Robert, R. Critical Issues in American Religious History: A Reader (2nd
Revised Edition). Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006. Print.
2. Evans, Christopher Hodge. The Kingdom is Always But Coming: A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2004
3. Berge, William H. Voices for Imperialism: Josiah Strong and the Protestant Clergy. Eastern Kentucky University: Border States: Journal of the Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association. No. 1 (1973)
4. BOOKRAGS STAFF. "Josiah Strong". 2005. October 6 2009. http://www.bookrags.com/biography/josiah-strong/
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Hg makes some good points and interprets the reading quite well. I would have to agree with much of what hg wrote, except for the last line. Do you really think he has influenced the whole country to think we are superior? Maybe I misunderstood what you meant, but I feel as if many people do have a sense of tolerance and equality for other races and beliefs. Please correct me if I misunderstood your comment.
ReplyDeleteSome very good points are made in this blog. The idea of manifest destiny, I'm not too sure that the idea still lingers in the country, but it certainly did in the past.
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