Victor Nuovo: Was the Civil War inevitable?

Editor’s note: This is the 42nd in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Was the Civil War inevitable? On the face of it, the answer is obviously no. We label events “inevitable” when we believe they cannot be avoided, like death and taxes. But we also believe that human events are the result of choices made by persons who are by nature free, rational and responsible, who could have done otherwise than they did if they had only chosen to do so, and who might have … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 41st in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. The essays in this part, which resumes the series that left off at the end of October, will begin with the Civil War and continue through … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 40th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. The course of this nation’s expansion was brought almost to completion by conquest during the presidency of James K. Polk, a protégé of A … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 39th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. The term “Trail of Tears” translates an expression used by the Cherokees to describe their forced exodus from their homeland in northern … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 38th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. The Louisiana Purchase (1803), concluded by Thomas Jefferson, marks the beginning of the age of American territorial expansion. By 1850 i … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 37th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. If this nation were endowed with a national religion, its name would be “democracy”; its foremost prophet, Walt Whitman (1819-92); its bi … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 36th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” rightly belongs among the founding documents of this nation. It complements the “Declaration o … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 35th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. American civilization would be much diminished if Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) had not gone to live “alone, in the woods,” by the shore … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 34th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s earliest writings, on which the previous essay was based, portray a mind infused with a sunny confidence. In his la … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 33rd in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Reading Emerson may be compared to taking a shower. Instead of streams of water falling gently and pleasantly over one’s body, there is a … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 32nd in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Margaret Fuller (1810-50) was born in Cambridge, Mass.; she was a prominent member of the Transcendentalist Club. In her short life she p … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 31st in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. After reviewing the previous essay, I realized that my account of the philosophical background of American Transcendentalism was incomple … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 30th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. “Transcendentalism” signifies the flowering of culture in New England during the first half of the 19th Century when it threw off the bur … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 29th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. The Constitution of the United States provides for three branches of government, each exercising a separate power: legislative, executive … (read more)

Editor’s note: This is the 28th in a series of essays on the history and meaning of the American political tradition. Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) was President of the United States for two terms, from 1829 until 1837. He also ran for the office in 1824 and … (read more)