Transcripts For CSPAN2 Wilfred McClay Land Of Hope 20240713

Tell the story of our country in a way that sells short our natural greatness nor whitewash is our national sins, live questions in our politics, in may be an unusual way and this book is intended to speak to that moment. Never a better time to hear from bill about his sense of how to approach these questions. Wilfred mcclay is a national treasure, he is a teacher, holds the blankenship chair in oklahoma and admired and beloved by students past and present and one of the writers of American History. His book the masterless self in society in modern america was judged the best book in American Intellectual history the year was published by the organization of american historians. And students guide to us history, figures in the carpet, finding the human person in the american past and why place matters, geography, identity and civic life in modern america. He has been active in the service of his country, bill served for 11 years in the National Council of humanities which is the Advisory Board of the National Endowment for the humanities. A member of the us centennial commission, who pronounced that word. Of the Commission Planning the official public commemoration of americas 200 Fiftieth Anniversary in 2026, build a graduate st. Johns college in annapolis, the greatest phd in history from johns hopkins, and with the capacity to understand ourselves. Land of hope an invitation to the Great American story describes itself as an invitation to the Great American story and exists to fill the kind of gap, there is not a shortage of books about American History but an accessible narrative account of the art of the american story, it is an invitation to the american looking to become a fuller citizen of the country, something we always in need of. Bill will talk about the book for a bit. He and i will chat about it briefly and invite all of you into the conversation through questions and answers. For that lets welcome wilfred mcclay. This is my first visit to the new and improved aei. It is wonderful to be here. This is an institution i hold dear and have for many years but the fact that he appointed yuval levin to this important post is a good sign about the future. I may not be using it. Yuval levin mentioned in his introduction some of what i was going to say about reasons i wrote the book because for someone in the academy to write a book like this is a pretty insane proposition. Not anything that will help your career and i didnt seek to use it to do that. Are we okay . It did seem to me we have a problem. The historical profession of which i am a part has made many advances the trash the historical profession the we may do that. It made many advances particularly in articulating the experiences of the inarticulate, the marginalized, those who have been neglected by historical studies in the past and it was not necessarily the intended result but the result was a fragmented, fractured, incoherent, discontinuous understanding of our path which fails to convey to young people the larger art of that. And it reflects the outlook of writers like elliott howard, somewhat questionably researched in the history of the United States. Almost 3 million copies. Approaching 3 million. It has been treated as authoritative even as some of the best public and private high schools with other respectable classrooms. The just of this, the thrust of it is we are losing a general grasp on the meeting of our own history. Many advances in the sophistication of its approaches to topics to be neglected in the past. What now is neglected is a broad, shared, historical consciousness, the Public Knowledge we need to think of ourselves as a coherent political entity, to think of ourselves as citizens, to prepare people for citizenship not just in terms of civics 101, understanding citizenship, a set of particular Political Rights and responsibilities, but in the sense of membership, being members of society, members of the country, part of a great story of which the american story is constituted. This is a state of affairs cant go on, a great nation needs and deserves a great narrative to convey the narrative to the rising generation effectively. And to sustain itself. In the face of the challenges that are in the presence and the future. And this cannot be a fairytale. It cant whitewash the past, it has to be truthful to be convincing, there is no necessary connection between a truthful account or contradiction between a truthful account and aspiring one especially in American History and we cease to provide that. Either one truth for convincing or inspiring in our schools today. And the title itself begins to convey. Im going to unpack that a little more as i go. I hope you will forgive me. I will read some passages from the book to give you the feel of it, the flavor of it, the tone and diction of it. That was one of the hardest things, finding the right pinch that would be accessible to a High School Student because after all this is ultimately a high school textbook. I am delighted, i am amazed at the reception it has gotten with general readers, the reading public for lack of a better term. It is really meant for young people. It is meant to compete not just with howard is in but hyper extensive textbooks on offer. The underlying aims of the book are clear in the house which was an epigraph that i borrowed from an essay, a Great American writer for the young people who countered that. He was a great radical in the 1920s and in the fullness of time came to a vivid appreciation of this country and a profound sense of connection to its past. Let me read you from this essay, the passage, the title of the book was the first thing i wrote which is unusual. It was the last thing i wrote. I brought this title, epitomizing what i want to achieve. I took it to my computer model and had that in front of me and the other thing i added was this. Is required from the side, propped up the use of cardboard which is longer. This every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less and ornamental arch but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddle of today. Other men were belonging to generations before us have found to stand on. And spite of changing conditions in the life. Their thoughts with the grandfathers, they managed to meet situations as difficult as those who have to face. Sometimes lightheartedly. In some measure to make their hopes, we need to know how they did it. This is continuing, and in times of change and danger, and a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across that and the idiot dilution with the blocks good thinking. That is why in times like ours when old institutions are caving in and replaced by new institutions, not necessarily in accord with preconceived hopes, political thought has to look backwards as well as forwards. Note the passage i marked out, arguing in a sense that living connection to the past can be steadying and reassuring, a source of sustenance in times of great upheaval. That sense of connection with the past, the illusion we live in a time so different from all other times is to be completely without precedent from the illusion that the past has nothing to teach us. The all of us who teach, and with dramatic and unsettling events and Technological Innovations render the past irrelevant. Young people are is specially tempted to think this way because they have less experience, they have nothing but the present at this point of comparison but the past disparages this view as an idiot dilution. We would say idiotic but he says an idiot dilution and recommends the counsel of the past as something necessary and not nearly desirable. It should add to the weight of these observations to tell you the year in which he wrote these words, 1941, this was a truly frightening moment in the history of the western world. Hitler had control of the european continent, the fate of european civilization seemed to hang by a thread. He could have been forgiven for thinking at this time that, and the past has nothing to teach at the moment. Part of the deck of looking backwards as he counsels us to do is in doing so we only recover a sense of where we came from but we learn to free ourselves from our mental imprisonment in the present, provincial conviction that we have that what we are seeing and experiencing and believing today represents the pinnacle of Human Knowledge and human possibility, natural or inevitable state of human beings. When we learn to incorporate the past into our thinking we enrich our imaginations even as we are less susceptible to idiot delusions. And its triumph and grandeur and world historical exceptional importance. It needs to take into account the importance of history of shared memories made possible cohesion of the people impossible for us to Work Together with common cold and common goods. We need to balance with appreciation. The making of laws and politics. Above all, and needs to understand historical elements in the lights of the citizens. A knowledge not only institutions and rights but a sense of membership of those belonging and obligation. In addition, the book is unusual in which it asks its young rigors readers to reflect. I think historically and understand the history is not just an account of indisputable and self explanatory details. Instead, history is a reflect of the past. Because the depths of our humanity. It doesnt tell us what to think about the past, and almost never presents us with that simple type, white hot Tickets Black hats. It means learning to appreciate complexity, nuance and nuance. It means asking questions and asking them again and again and again. Asking fresh questions at the experience of life and questions to arrive in our mind. Let me talk about some of the books more specific distinctives. First of all, the fact that it is a book, its a tangible physical object rather than an intangible collection of pixels on screen. Thanks to my publisher encount encounter, wonderful efforts. I do take credit for the selection of the cover art, however. Its a handsome book. One that i hope if you will continue to have in the library in the future, it will make its way into theirs. Families collections. By taking a stand with the permanent of the traditional vintage and bound books from a land of hope stands against the growing publishers in School Systems to rely on digital only. As youll see, this is a matter of no small significance. Digital tech can be altered in the blinking of an eye. The permanence of a transit book on the other hand is an expression of the durability of the subject it addresses. Also, plaintiff hope was not risen by a committee although you are looking at the committee with its parts pasted together like a hostage note, meant to please different constituencies and stakeholders and Political Action committees and all other local interested parties. The book was written by me, all by myself typing away up in my attic while Research Assistant in the process. The book reflects that fact. Readers will, i hope, here in its pages the human voice of an actual author. Not a false imitation of the voice of god with an echo chamber synthetically added. A lot has not been dumbed down although in some cases it has been simplified. I made it as lively and approachable as possible. Many of the books distinctives are hinted at in the title. As i mentioned, the title is the first thing i wrote about the book. It expresses some of the emphases i knew i wanted to into as i proceeded. First there is the word land. America is a land. Its not only an idea. True, it is in some respects the expression of an idea or ideas about liberty, equality, selfrule and other such things that the universal standards have set out in our declaration of independence which in turn initiated a greater class for liberty, equality etc. In the nations of the world. The transatlantic, international, the worldwide influence even unto todays purpose and hong kong. America is also very particular nation. A particular structure and particular history which in turn means that its particular triumphs, sufferings, sacrifices and our memories of these things are important to draw and hold us together. Precisely they are the sacrifices and sufferings victories novel humanity but of ourselves. Arlington National Cemetery commands are devotion, not only because of the mobility of the american idea but because the remains of our countrymen, some of whom are fathers and brothers and relatives are incurred there. Second, there is the third one, hope. This is part of the books argument. The entire western hemisphere came to be inhabited by people who came from somewhere else most willingly one exception to that, people who came in bondage but most willingly, restless and unwilling to settle for the conditions in which they were born, drawn by the prospect of a new beginning. Freedom, the space to pursue their ambitions in ways respected old worlds did not permit. Hope is a very powerful word. Both theological and secular material as well as spiritual. All of these meanings still exist in abundance in america. Nothing about america that are defined the character than the epically of hope. A sense of things that are initially given to us in life cannot be the final word about them. We can never settle for that. Few qualities are more american than this. Its a spiritual quality above all else. Aspirational quality that cannot possibly adequately accounted for in merely material terms. Of course hope and opportunity are not synonymous with success. Land of hope sometimes means being a land of disappointment. This is unavoidable. High ideals makes itself vulnerable to criticism when it falls short. Sometimes very fall short of them. We should not be surprised by this. We should not be surprised to discover many of our heroes turn out to be deeply flawed human beings. All human beings are flawed as all human enterprises are. To believe otherwise is to be naive. Recidivism in our time is more than naive and deep discuss. In america, harp hope is to far compelling to be defeated for long for a sentiment. Finally, theres the theme of the story. America has a story. Its important that our young people be acquainted with that story. Stories are how we organized the world. Organize around stories that are constituents about social existence. We are, at our core, remembering story making teachers and thats one of the way we find meanings. Nearly the refinement intensification of that basic human need and impulse. Let me give you a fuller sentence of the book with some excerpts. Each dealing with an issue or event thats especially important and yet problematic in our view of the american past. Perhaps the single most sensitive subject and presentation of American History is slavery in the nations past. The challenge in presenting the subject accurately is one of balance. Insisting on the weight the importance of slavery without exaggerating its enduring significance. As a tendency among the young to imagine that slavery was uniquely American Institution but this is a profound misconception. The u. S. Did not create slavery or racism or rachel prejudice. Absent from strong moral force. The United States, while having a history of toxic pipe these evils and having participated in them is also a country that has a larger history of which it can be proud, seeking to overcome such things. How does one deal with the failure of the constitution framework works the deal with the problem precisely at the time the countries beginning. By the time the Constitutional Convention in 1787, slavery had already become deeply enmeshed in the National Economy despite all the ways its existence stood in glaring contradiction to our nations commitment to equality and self rule is expressed in the declaration of independence. Samuel johnsons famous jibe, how is it that we hear the modesty up among the drivers of negroes . How . We wonder today toward washington and Thomas Everson . Its contradictory to all but they stood for. As i write in the book there is no easy answer to such questions but surely, part of the answer is in each of us is born into a world we did not make. It is only with the greatest effort and great cost we are ever able to change that world for the better. While sensibilities are not static, they develop and deepen over time. General moral progress is very slow. Part of the study of history involves the training of the imagination, learning to see historical speaking and acting in their own times rather than hours. Learning to see even our heroes is an all too human mixture. People like us, who may like us, be constrained by circumstances beyond their control. The improvements is regarding slavery and was almost certainly unavoidable in the short term to achieve effective Political Union of the nation. What we need to understand is how the original mice no longer became acceptable to increasing numbers of america especially in one part of the union and white slavery in the institution in Human History came to be seen not merely as an unfortunate evil but an impediment to Human Progress stain upon the whole nation. We live today on the other side of the great transformation in moral sensibility. Its not yet completed in the years the u. S. Would be informed. It would be profoundly wrong to contend as some do, that the United States was founded on slavery. No, it was founded on other principles entirely. Principles of liberty and self rule that had been discovered and defined and refined and enshrined through the central turbulent centuries of european and british and American History. The foundational principles went out in the end, not without much struggle and striving and eventual bloodshed. The American History<\/a>. His book the masterless self in society in modern america was judged the best book in American Intellectual<\/a> history the year was published by the organization of american historians. And students guide to us history, figures in the carpet, finding the human person in the american past and why place matters, geography, identity and civic life in modern america. He has been active in the service of his country, bill served for 11 years in the National Council<\/a> of humanities which is the Advisory Board<\/a> of the National Endowment<\/a> for the humanities. A member of the us centennial commission, who pronounced that word. Of the Commission Planning<\/a> the official public commemoration of americas 200 Fiftieth Anniversary<\/a> in 2026, build a graduate st. Johns college in annapolis, the greatest phd in history from johns hopkins, and with the capacity to understand ourselves. Land of hope an invitation to the Great American<\/a> story describes itself as an invitation to the Great American<\/a> story and exists to fill the kind of gap, there is not a shortage of books about American History<\/a> but an accessible narrative account of the art of the american story, it is an invitation to the american looking to become a fuller citizen of the country, something we always in need of. Bill will talk about the book for a bit. He and i will chat about it briefly and invite all of you into the conversation through questions and answers. For that lets welcome wilfred mcclay. This is my first visit to the new and improved aei. It is wonderful to be here. This is an institution i hold dear and have for many years but the fact that he appointed yuval levin to this important post is a good sign about the future. I may not be using it. Yuval levin mentioned in his introduction some of what i was going to say about reasons i wrote the book because for someone in the academy to write a book like this is a pretty insane proposition. Not anything that will help your career and i didnt seek to use it to do that. Are we okay . It did seem to me we have a problem. The historical profession of which i am a part has made many advances the trash the historical profession the we may do that. It made many advances particularly in articulating the experiences of the inarticulate, the marginalized, those who have been neglected by historical studies in the past and it was not necessarily the intended result but the result was a fragmented, fractured, incoherent, discontinuous understanding of our path which fails to convey to young people the larger art of that. And it reflects the outlook of writers like elliott howard, somewhat questionably researched in the history of the United States<\/a>. Almost 3 million copies. Approaching 3 million. It has been treated as authoritative even as some of the best public and private high schools with other respectable classrooms. The just of this, the thrust of it is we are losing a general grasp on the meeting of our own history. Many advances in the sophistication of its approaches to topics to be neglected in the past. What now is neglected is a broad, shared, historical consciousness, the Public Knowledge<\/a> we need to think of ourselves as a coherent political entity, to think of ourselves as citizens, to prepare people for citizenship not just in terms of civics 101, understanding citizenship, a set of particular Political Rights<\/a> and responsibilities, but in the sense of membership, being members of society, members of the country, part of a great story of which the american story is constituted. This is a state of affairs cant go on, a great nation needs and deserves a great narrative to convey the narrative to the rising generation effectively. And to sustain itself. In the face of the challenges that are in the presence and the future. And this cannot be a fairytale. It cant whitewash the past, it has to be truthful to be convincing, there is no necessary connection between a truthful account or contradiction between a truthful account and aspiring one especially in American History<\/a> and we cease to provide that. Either one truth for convincing or inspiring in our schools today. And the title itself begins to convey. Im going to unpack that a little more as i go. I hope you will forgive me. I will read some passages from the book to give you the feel of it, the flavor of it, the tone and diction of it. That was one of the hardest things, finding the right pinch that would be accessible to a High School Student<\/a> because after all this is ultimately a high school textbook. I am delighted, i am amazed at the reception it has gotten with general readers, the reading public for lack of a better term. It is really meant for young people. It is meant to compete not just with howard is in but hyper extensive textbooks on offer. The underlying aims of the book are clear in the house which was an epigraph that i borrowed from an essay, a Great American<\/a> writer for the young people who countered that. He was a great radical in the 1920s and in the fullness of time came to a vivid appreciation of this country and a profound sense of connection to its past. Let me read you from this essay, the passage, the title of the book was the first thing i wrote which is unusual. It was the last thing i wrote. I brought this title, epitomizing what i want to achieve. I took it to my computer model and had that in front of me and the other thing i added was this. Is required from the side, propped up the use of cardboard which is longer. This every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less and ornamental arch but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddle of today. Other men were belonging to generations before us have found to stand on. And spite of changing conditions in the life. Their thoughts with the grandfathers, they managed to meet situations as difficult as those who have to face. Sometimes lightheartedly. In some measure to make their hopes, we need to know how they did it. This is continuing, and in times of change and danger, and a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across that and the idiot dilution with the blocks good thinking. That is why in times like ours when old institutions are caving in and replaced by new institutions, not necessarily in accord with preconceived hopes, political thought has to look backwards as well as forwards. Note the passage i marked out, arguing in a sense that living connection to the past can be steadying and reassuring, a source of sustenance in times of great upheaval. That sense of connection with the past, the illusion we live in a time so different from all other times is to be completely without precedent from the illusion that the past has nothing to teach us. The all of us who teach, and with dramatic and unsettling events and Technological Innovations<\/a> render the past irrelevant. Young people are is specially tempted to think this way because they have less experience, they have nothing but the present at this point of comparison but the past disparages this view as an idiot dilution. We would say idiotic but he says an idiot dilution and recommends the counsel of the past as something necessary and not nearly desirable. It should add to the weight of these observations to tell you the year in which he wrote these words, 1941, this was a truly frightening moment in the history of the western world. Hitler had control of the european continent, the fate of european civilization seemed to hang by a thread. He could have been forgiven for thinking at this time that, and the past has nothing to teach at the moment. Part of the deck of looking backwards as he counsels us to do is in doing so we only recover a sense of where we came from but we learn to free ourselves from our mental imprisonment in the present, provincial conviction that we have that what we are seeing and experiencing and believing today represents the pinnacle of Human Knowledge<\/a> and human possibility, natural or inevitable state of human beings. When we learn to incorporate the past into our thinking we enrich our imaginations even as we are less susceptible to idiot delusions. And its triumph and grandeur and world historical exceptional importance. It needs to take into account the importance of history of shared memories made possible cohesion of the people impossible for us to Work Together<\/a> with common cold and common goods. We need to balance with appreciation. The making of laws and politics. Above all, and needs to understand historical elements in the lights of the citizens. A knowledge not only institutions and rights but a sense of membership of those belonging and obligation. In addition, the book is unusual in which it asks its young rigors readers to reflect. I think historically and understand the history is not just an account of indisputable and self explanatory details. Instead, history is a reflect of the past. Because the depths of our humanity. It doesnt tell us what to think about the past, and almost never presents us with that simple type, white hot Tickets Black<\/a> hats. It means learning to appreciate complexity, nuance and nuance. It means asking questions and asking them again and again and again. Asking fresh questions at the experience of life and questions to arrive in our mind. Let me talk about some of the books more specific distinctives. First of all, the fact that it is a book, its a tangible physical object rather than an intangible collection of pixels on screen. Thanks to my publisher encount encounter, wonderful efforts. I do take credit for the selection of the cover art, however. Its a handsome book. One that i hope if you will continue to have in the library in the future, it will make its way into theirs. Families collections. By taking a stand with the permanent of the traditional vintage and bound books from a land of hope stands against the growing publishers in School Systems<\/a> to rely on digital only. As youll see, this is a matter of no small significance. Digital tech can be altered in the blinking of an eye. The permanence of a transit book on the other hand is an expression of the durability of the subject it addresses. Also, plaintiff hope was not risen by a committee although you are looking at the committee with its parts pasted together like a hostage note, meant to please different constituencies and stakeholders and Political Action<\/a> committees and all other local interested parties. The book was written by me, all by myself typing away up in my attic while Research Assistant<\/a> in the process. The book reflects that fact. Readers will, i hope, here in its pages the human voice of an actual author. Not a false imitation of the voice of god with an echo chamber synthetically added. A lot has not been dumbed down although in some cases it has been simplified. I made it as lively and approachable as possible. Many of the books distinctives are hinted at in the title. As i mentioned, the title is the first thing i wrote about the book. It expresses some of the emphases i knew i wanted to into as i proceeded. First there is the word land. America is a land. Its not only an idea. True, it is in some respects the expression of an idea or ideas about liberty, equality, selfrule and other such things that the universal standards have set out in our declaration of independence which in turn initiated a greater class for liberty, equality etc. In the nations of the world. The transatlantic, international, the worldwide influence even unto todays purpose and hong kong. America is also very particular nation. A particular structure and particular history which in turn means that its particular triumphs, sufferings, sacrifices and our memories of these things are important to draw and hold us together. Precisely they are the sacrifices and sufferings victories novel humanity but of ourselves. Arlington National Cemetery<\/a> commands are devotion, not only because of the mobility of the american idea but because the remains of our countrymen, some of whom are fathers and brothers and relatives are incurred there. Second, there is the third one, hope. This is part of the books argument. The entire western hemisphere came to be inhabited by people who came from somewhere else most willingly one exception to that, people who came in bondage but most willingly, restless and unwilling to settle for the conditions in which they were born, drawn by the prospect of a new beginning. Freedom, the space to pursue their ambitions in ways respected old worlds did not permit. Hope is a very powerful word. Both theological and secular material as well as spiritual. All of these meanings still exist in abundance in america. Nothing about america that are defined the character than the epically of hope. A sense of things that are initially given to us in life cannot be the final word about them. We can never settle for that. Few qualities are more american than this. Its a spiritual quality above all else. Aspirational quality that cannot possibly adequately accounted for in merely material terms. Of course hope and opportunity are not synonymous with success. Land of hope sometimes means being a land of disappointment. This is unavoidable. High ideals makes itself vulnerable to criticism when it falls short. Sometimes very fall short of them. We should not be surprised by this. We should not be surprised to discover many of our heroes turn out to be deeply flawed human beings. All human beings are flawed as all human enterprises are. To believe otherwise is to be naive. Recidivism in our time is more than naive and deep discuss. In america, harp hope is to far compelling to be defeated for long for a sentiment. Finally, theres the theme of the story. America has a story. Its important that our young people be acquainted with that story. Stories are how we organized the world. Organize around stories that are constituents about social existence. We are, at our core, remembering story making teachers and thats one of the way we find meanings. Nearly the refinement intensification of that basic human need and impulse. Let me give you a fuller sentence of the book with some excerpts. Each dealing with an issue or event thats especially important and yet problematic in our view of the american past. Perhaps the single most sensitive subject and presentation of American History<\/a> is slavery in the nations past. The challenge in presenting the subject accurately is one of balance. Insisting on the weight the importance of slavery without exaggerating its enduring significance. As a tendency among the young to imagine that slavery was uniquely American Institution<\/a> but this is a profound misconception. The u. S. Did not create slavery or racism or rachel prejudice. Absent from strong moral force. The United States<\/a>, while having a history of toxic pipe these evils and having participated in them is also a country that has a larger history of which it can be proud, seeking to overcome such things. How does one deal with the failure of the constitution framework works the deal with the problem precisely at the time the countries beginning. By the time the Constitutional Convention<\/a> in 1787, slavery had already become deeply enmeshed in the National Economy<\/a> despite all the ways its existence stood in glaring contradiction to our nations commitment to equality and self rule is expressed in the declaration of independence. Samuel johnsons famous jibe, how is it that we hear the modesty up among the drivers of negroes . How . We wonder today toward washington and Thomas Everson<\/a> . Its contradictory to all but they stood for. As i write in the book there is no easy answer to such questions but surely, part of the answer is in each of us is born into a world we did not make. It is only with the greatest effort and great cost we are ever able to change that world for the better. While sensibilities are not static, they develop and deepen over time. General moral progress is very slow. Part of the study of history involves the training of the imagination, learning to see historical speaking and acting in their own times rather than hours. Learning to see even our heroes is an all too human mixture. People like us, who may like us, be constrained by circumstances beyond their control. The improvements is regarding slavery and was almost certainly unavoidable in the short term to achieve effective Political Union<\/a> of the nation. What we need to understand is how the original mice no longer became acceptable to increasing numbers of america especially in one part of the union and white slavery in the institution in Human History<\/a> came to be seen not merely as an unfortunate evil but an impediment to Human Progress<\/a> stain upon the whole nation. We live today on the other side of the great transformation in moral sensibility. Its not yet completed in the years the u. S. Would be informed. It would be profoundly wrong to contend as some do, that the United States<\/a> was founded on slavery. No, it was founded on other principles entirely. Principles of liberty and self rule that had been discovered and defined and refined and enshrined through the central turbulent centuries of european and british and American History<\/a>. The foundational principles went out in the end, not without much struggle and striving and eventual bloodshed. The United States<\/a> enjoyed the react list curve but was not a conception and an untroubled delivery. Few things are. I wrote these words before the publication of the New York Times<\/a> 1619 project. Which does in fact, insist on the idea that america was founded on slavery and a project that will be producing an disturbing materials for use in american schools to promote the idea. Books like mine, theres no genuine danger and part of the indication that students will be part of the enduring makeup dna, the metaphoric they use. A lesson that would not only be false but privations. I related that, the wisdom of states, they often beat less than obvious to contemporary observers, precisely because only the leader is in a position to understand all the essential forces in the way. Being a great leader requires encourage courage and imagination, especially when the outcome seems doubtful in the ps afraid. It may need a multitude and accepting unpopularity. The book contains any examples of this. The heroic terms, we forget the depths and breadth of its unpopularity during his entire time in office. Few great leaders happen more comprehensively disdained, clothed and underestimated. A Southern View<\/a> of lincoln is the to be expected. Its widely shared in the north, two. Biography david, his own associate him a simple susan, a baboon, and was, smutty joker. A first rate second rate man. Mcclellan, his opponent in 1864 election open suddenly disdained him as a baboon. Lincoln was convinced there was good reason. He was doomed to lose the election. The war efforts, the future of the nation and all he had done and all he sacrificed. I quote from the book again. We need to remember that this is how history happens. This is directed toward young people but all of us can benefit from this. This is generally how history happens. Its not like a hollywood movie. The background music swells and crowded rooms leapt to their feet with timeless words and the camera pans the room full of smiling faces. In real history, the background music does not swell. The trumpets do not sound. Critics often seem louder thin the applause. The leader or soldier has to wonder, is he acting in vain . Are the criticisms of others, in fact, true . With his sacrifice count for nothing . Few great leaders have helped this burden more comprehensive than lincoln. I do this a lot with other statements at time to appreciate what its like to be the man in the arena. Let me also suggest something, it relates to the story at the end of the civil war in 1865 in a way that might help for our fellow countrymen today that seems to regard the american past with contempt. Heres how i described the scene in the book. Somewhat longer passage here. On april 9 after futile resistance, arranged to be in a brick home in the courthouse to surrender his army. He could not formally surrender but the surrender of his army would trigger the surrender of all others. It represented the end of the confederate cause. It was dignified and restrained and sad is when a terrible storm that has raged has finally exhausted itself, leaving behind us strange calm. The two men had known each other in the mexican war. We arrived first wearing his dress uniform, soon to be joined by grant, and trenchcoat and muddy boots. They showed one another, a deep respectful courtesy. None would be arrested or charged with treason. Four days later when lees army of 28000 men surrendered their arms in color, general Joshua Chamberlain<\/a> of maine, hero gettysburg was present at the ceremony. He later wrote that day reflecting on his soldierly respect of the men before him, each passing by and stacking his arms and only days before and here i quote from chamberlain who cannot be improved on. Before us and proud accumulation stood the embodiment of men, men who neither toiled in suffering for the fact of death not disaster or hopelessness could bend from their resolve, standing before us now, dim, born and famished. Making memories that bound us together as no other bond. It was not such manhood welcome back into a union . On our parts, not a sound of trumpet mark nor role of drum, not year, not a word, no emotion of man standing again at the order of stillness as if it were the passing of the dead. Thats chamberlains observation. Then it picks up from there. Such deep sympathies into victory of grief and death. It was and remains americas bloodiest conflict. Generated at least a million and a half casualties of the two sites combined, including 220,000 or some people estimate far more than that. The equivalent of 6 million men in todays population. One in four soldiers who went to work, never returned home. One of 13 return home with one or more missing limbs. For decades to come in every village and town on the land, one could see their wounds and scars as a reminder of those who sacrificed. A spirit of conciliation, the spirit lincoln called for in his second inaugural speech, a finding of wound caring for the many afflicted improved and living ahead together. He was a slander of hope, a hope wolf holding and nourishing and pursuing. We all know it didnt turn out that way. Thanks in large part to the assassinated of thinking. But the story i think is inoperative. They could find it in their hearts to be that giving, cap generous, respectful of the men who had only been days before their mortal enemies, we ought to send extend a far more distant past. We could be encouraged by thinking himself who said something similar in a meeting on april 14, the very day of his assassination. I hope there will be no persecution, no bloody live seven sacrificed. We must extinguish our harmony and union. To be matters, interfere with and dictate and treat them not as fellow citizens. There is little respect for the rights. I do not sympathize in these feelings. Perhaps we cans hopes were unrealistic. Perhaps such an outcome was impossible. Perhaps it would happen many concessions, we can never know for sure. Given the high regard in which lincoln was rightly held by most americans and americans leaders, it would be a mistake not to Pay Attention<\/a> to the example. Not only in understanding the past in which he lived at the present in which we live as well. Lincoln never lost sight of the fact that the work consumed his presidency and finally his life would be of failure if we are not a war of reunification and reconciliation and not conquest and vengeance. We will cure our own debates and internal conflicts and caught the same thing. Finally, another act of statesmanship, one that was not all that controversial at the time and has become highly controversial in the years sin since. President Harry Trumans<\/a> atomic bomb to bring it to an end. The development of this weapon, the new president had not even been informed of its existence until the coming president after roosevelt death and found himself as the one who has to make the momentous choice whether to use the weapons against japan in todays debates over the morality of using these new fearsome weapons, weve had an unfortunate tendency to view the decision in the context papa national leadership. I tried to counsel readers as my students against such moralizi moralizing. Heres my description in the book of that decision. It is up blunt straightforward and decisive man who did not agonize over his choices. He quickly decided it would be imperative to use this new weapon as something i would save lives, particularly in light of the horrendously flooded experience in okinawa and what he pretended and japan. How best to use it given the fact that only two bombs were available to give the real possibility that owed failed to explode properly, it didnt make sense to announce the demonstration explosion and on inhabited area to prove it was powerful. For one thing, it might fail and make american threats look hollow. Even if a demonstration prompted explode, it might not have the entire effect anyway. How could truman possibly justify to the world is use of the weapon . It resulted in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths. He concluded the only realistic choice open to him was to demand japanese surrender in the most threatening terms with the deadline attached and when it passed, they drop one of the bombs without warning. Thats what he did. It was a warning on july 262 surrender, it prompted other construction and when there is no surrender early in the morning august 6, the 29, dropped the first bomb unannounced anna major naval center. A few words in closing, i welcome your questions and discussion, come back to lincoln again. It was lincoln who articulated in his first inaugural address the hope that what he called the mystic courts of memory was yet swelled in union at a time and the prospects for the union staying together were diminishing by the minute. He is appealing in a moment of National Crisis<\/a> to the Great American<\/a> story among the nations grateful memory of the generations of 76, the revolutionary patriots who created the nation and all those others who sacrificed so much to make the nations experiments and democracy into success. As we know, cans great speech did not succeed in preventing a war in his time. That does not mean his description was the wrong one for other times including our own. We, too, live in a fractious unity full of hortense, one of which is loose in civil war. We also have an even longer history to appeal to now. Even in our current times of national discontent and strife, we have an even more impressive orchestra of mystic courts here and heed to. Lincoln can point back to the declaration in philadelphia that produced the constitution. We have so much more, we have gettysburg, summit, iwo jima, west berlin, dozens of other places that serve as markers for the progress of the american spirit. But we cannot draw effectively on a history we have forgotten. Or worse, have never known at all. Comprehensive ignorance of the past is no longer a hypothetical danger but a clear and present one. In that sense, i hope that land of hope in a small but helpful contribution to the much larger project of national frustration. Thank you. [applause] thank you very much. Wonderful review of the book. His trust fantastically also jumps out from the book itself which is a sense that our history can be a source of unity. I want to start out by asking about that in particular. Theres a way in which politics now is using history as a source of division, whether as to describe the american story as rooted in sin and expression of oppression are really whether it can draw out of the american story proof that the other side of the train, the american tradition. Has our history been used as a source of unity traditionally . Is this something new or is it always a danger . I think its always a danger. I think we have history contested, certainly back to the civil war. But there were interesting debates, not without intellectual merit about the meaning of the constitution. Was it compact, did it reestablish the state on a different basis . Did they sacrifice their sovereignty as southerners increasingly insisted . These are debates fueled by interest as they always are. Nobody engages in historical debate but theres legitimate issues. I often feel in teaching about the development American Institution<\/a>s and you really have to see between opponents, the biggest example being the anti federalist debate. Theres so much the antifederalists has not only sensible ones at the time, its been out and of course we have the bill of rights among other things thanks to those antifederalists. Even though we tend to always look to the federalist papers when we are in that period, maintaining that debate, that tension as part of an understanding is very important. By the way, i want to remark on that, it is interesting how, i try to be evenhanded, people who are willing to dispense the constitution part tinkering with it radically. When those Critical Issues<\/a> that the foundations in place, why havent they always come back to the federalist papers . Legal scholars testify for the house. There is a way in which those documents and the documents for which they serve as a commenta commentary, of the anchor always come back to you. Even though its a contested anchor. The constitution is not a simple document through casual readers, everything in it has been brought over and will continue to be. Talk about the extraordinary part, history is the grandfath grandfather. Wonderful way to think about and get over the tension between us and our fathers and learn from the past. Im glad you caught that because every time i read that notice when he says grandfather because you think about the difference in the relationship of grandparents and grandchildren. Theres something very special about that. Its an inheritance that is ov over, mothers and children to a less frictional, more not disinterested but a more generous, less conflictual transfer of knowledge and sentiment and yeah, i think you are right. I think it does take us out of the sense that we have to do things exactly the way our fathers did. We are operating within a paradigm that may be broader than the specific things our fathers did that may embody values and aspirations that are deeply part of the story. Since you mentioned you chose the cover art, the image on the cover is a very idea of america. Is that the hope in america . Is it that kind of material urban colonist . Could have been a wheat field. A magnificent designer, i cant think of his name but he was a wonderful guy, he is personally hired. He had a painting that was a beautiful landscape and from a design standpoint, it was fabulous. I said i like this but we cant do this. Because its bad enough its going to be called land of hope but if i put this pastoral scene on there, this is all about, this is american past and dealing with americans in the society. So i said i want to find something that has, has some of these upward feelings you get when you walk into a debate. We looked for weeks and finally, i got this. I had never seen it before. That upward rest, that sense of ambition. I wasnt thinking in these terms of americas commercial republic but i was thinking of it as land of aspiration and opportunity, the bustling rather than that. A peaceful landscape. I want to bring people in the room and so raise your hands. Well get you the microphone. Tell us who you are try to ask a question. If there are questions, theres one in the background there. My name is harry. Thank you very much for this magnificent book. Thank you to the institute for this location to hear your remarks. You spoke about land, the land of hope and hope and story. You didnt say anything about the invitation and i want to ask you about that. In other high school texts about the american story, less attention seems to me is paid to the 17th century english context and i would say the religious divisions are not treated with the seriousness with which you treat them. I wonder whether you intended an invitation to the background in europe of religious strife and whether the invitation is not merely invitation to the american story but the invitation to the story that proceeds that story and the grandfathers of the grandfathers. Was that intentional . Well, i want to say yes because i want to take credit no, i had two things in mind. One, i want to make it clear im not pretending to produce, this is not morrison, its wrong, i just couldnt make it any shorter. I wanted it to be short and compact and acceptable to the young people. I did not want to strive for definitive, thats part of the invitation. The party is not the party but thats the other thing, i do feel for a lot of people, young and old, this is a story they usually dont know they are afraid to go into too much. They have this sense that theres nothing much to be proud of. The sense that the american past is sort of endless procession of confederate flags. So to speak. Nothing to apologize for in that. Which i think is absurd but it is what it is is where we are. Is how your students expectation that when you teach . Youve been teaching history for a while. Is it distinctly a time when people expect to be taught about race first and foremost . The procession of i have a way of formulating it but i think puts it that is correct. It has to do with i call it default. When i started teaching in the 1980s, i caught the American History<\/a> survey, im one of those types. I dont think it has passed anything. Dealing with the sequence and narrative and the connections between ideas and events, i do occasionally doing the other way. You get the simple question, why did Andrew Jackson<\/a> feel so strongly about it . Andrew jackson johnson, whatever. So you get this answer. That is default number one. Andrew jackson was a Great American<\/a> and he cares about america. It affect bank of United States<\/a> was not good for america. If america was the greatest nation, it did need to have a back. I would give it a day minus. Its what they thought i wanted to hear. We need to to get out of this jam. But now default number two is obamas apology Andrew Jackson<\/a> was a bitter malicious, private man, actually had more knowledge but he was an imperialist and so on. His in the back of the United States<\/a> because america is an imperialist, the bank of the United States<\/a> but again, this is what i want to do here. This is what they believed coming out of high school or whatever. This is what they think the teacher wants them to say. I think we have switched from default. Neither one of a hill of beans to put it in that form. They are both posturing, both reflecting incomplete absence of historical knowledge. But it is interesting that the fall back in is americas inheritance. Default number one would be the rights forever. That tells you something. Its a crude measure but it tells you something about the general set of expectations that we are up against. I did find this one meeting people, when my daughter was dating and having dinner and the first thing, the first question was how do i deal with it . Its an important subject related to jackson but its not the only subject. Good grief. Weve marginalized facet of American History<\/a> better understanding the margins, which are real and i dont want to put back on people in my profession, they have done very good work. You may have noticed that several historians including slavery have, against the 1619 project and they have been very quiet about it. I think people know that this is bad history. Even in the very last historical procession, people are not willing to go that far. Another question back here. You said there were dozens of other places and service markers for the progress of the american spirit. Wonders whether, what youve got for that the periods of 1970. Oh. Well, i would have to think about that for a minute. It doesnt jump out at me as being a hero. What i do do, which i might find kind of interesting, im trying to get everybody to buy the book of course, i talk about oh, okay. I talk about watergate defeated vietnam or the sense of defeated vietnam. The general sense of having American Power<\/a> that i think reaches a combination in the administration but also talk about extraordinary role of the celebration. The tall ships some of them have grown, it is another harbor on the east coast. Its washed by means of people on tv. It was the most interesting effect because its nearly botched. They have spent ten years working on it. It didnt produce anything and things like this came along and others but it sticks in many peoples minds that, what does that have to do with the National Story<\/a> . I cant exactly say. But it was a sense of national promise, possibility and it did draw on the past by drawing on these things. Im very favorable to ronald reagan. Not completely uncritical but after the end of the cold war of the sort of intensive narrative thoughts and what i ended up doing with the last chapter, arguing that in fact from the standpoint of writing a textbook, we are still dealing those who have come at the end of the cold war. We havent completely resolved them so the closer you get to the president , it harder it is to avoid partisanship. I see dragon in a positive way. Except for the deficit. The last chapter is interesting. It was 30 years ago. The book of American History<\/a> probably wouldnt have stopped in 1930. Theres a sense in that chapter that we havent found our way. Yeah, that and i am talking about all the polling data, the distrust of our institution and our 22 trilliondollar debt and so on. I do see it in a less than cap the way but in the sense that these challenges are not beyond us. So im glad you added that. The 80s i do. Lets take another question right there. Thank you. Mcclay, you opened your remarks by alluding to the teaching of American History<\/a> today, colleges and universities. I wonder if you could say a little bit more about that. The source of it, whats to be done about it apart from the adoption. And with the sources of it and how it may change. I will answer your question as you asked but i was talking more about high school at that time. The fact that young people are not getting a coherent sense of the past but i think is true with colleges and universities. One of the things that nobody in the History Department<\/a> wants to do is teach the survey course. American history, nobody wants to do that. Part of the reason is time spent away from my specialty in my research is wasted. Its the hardest course to teach as well because it involves constantly trying to integrate the results of research. Yet keeping perspective. One of the things weve lost about our history is perspecti perspective. Questions that actually one of the problems is not only people dont know American History<\/a> but they dont know the history of the world. When i tell students that slavery is virtually all Human Society<\/a> and Human History<\/a> until recently, they think im crazy. They think im a lunatic. They have no idea what the history of the world looks like. In a way, starting American History<\/a> without starting the larger context in which it appears is to fail to see the light in a great deal of darkness that history is. But i think the historical profession is specialization. They were never fields that dont see an end to a strong sense of the public meaning of history. There are a lot of good historians who point this out and dont seem to realize the way they do things is a big part of the problem. You need to come to the subject with some sense of hope and a story. Within which these elements of Research Take<\/a> on the meaning. Theres an ideological element, to of one of the things when i was working on this, i looked at that 25 or so other textbooks and what i expected to find was an ideologically driven caricature, a Cartoon Version<\/a> but you dont actually find that in other textbooks. The real problem is that they are so badly written, so convoluted, i compare them to the hostage and all these things were inserted to appease various groups that were going into the textbooks. The holy grail of textbooks. In other states that have centralized the selection. You have these incoherent how quinn new expect them to read this . This is horrible. I cant read it. So i think in the end, ideology is less of a problem. It does become a problem after 1964, occluding 1964. Textbooks become so clearly transparently ideological. I wouldnt want to use them. For a long time, i published a little book 20 years ago called a students guide to u. S. History. It was published by brooks, a lot of circulation, people wrote me i noticed you have a bibliography but you dont have a textbook. I said thats because there is not a textbook i can recommend. I would email people saying when his book came out, at least that and after a while, i started feeling guilty about the fact that, i said why dont you write the textbook . I said forget it but eventually i thought it could be a good thing. I finally broke down and did this. Its better to light a candle, although it may be painful sometimes. We are almost at the end of our time. Are you hopeful about the prospect of teaching americans about the history . Yes. I am. I think the problems we face now our first world problems. Problems of all humanity. How are we going to figure out the appropriate limits our position of power will of nature . Environmental, these are things that are going to preoccupy us in the years to come. What does it mean to be human . We can have the capacity to transform so much about what we are with biological compliments given to us. Everybody is going to have to struggle with it. We are better equipped than most to do it. Thats all i have to say about that. Thank you very much. You can find the book outside. Help me think wilford mcclay. [applause] you are watching book tv on cspan2. Top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Book tv, television for serious readers and this Martin Luther<\/a> king holiday weekend. Find a full schedule on your Program Guide<\/a> or online, booktv. Org. [inaudible conversations] good evening. Welcome. Im glad youre all here. Im excited about tonights talk. I first met aaron glatz about 20 years ago when he was one of mrs. Carters journalism fellows. His work was impressive then. 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