American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America

There are American historians, there are great American historians, and then there is Edmund Morgan. Morgan's work has redefined much of the American past, and especially early American history. Only Bernard Bailyn can stand with him as an interpreter of the colonial American past. So it is particularly good news that updated versions of many of Morgan's classic essays are now available in one book -- or in my case, one unabridged CD. Other reviewers correctly note that the book's title and cover page are misleading. I really don't BLAME Morgan for that, because usually the publisher is responsible for such things. That said, Morgan's name is on the book, too, and he should have changed things. But that is really the ONLY thing wrong with this book. These essays are as fresh and vivid as when they were first written, and Morgan's updating of them make them come alive even more. For me, the chapter of the Salem witch trials is especially spectacular. Morgan demonstrates that the only reason why the trials moved ahead was due to the decision to use "spectral evidence," normally deemed inadmissible, to convict people, all of whom were of course innocent. He then makes the obvious connection with the modern use of torture to condemn people; he might have had eloquent things to say about DOJ's recent decision not to discipline the authors of the infamous torture memo. But then he comes an observation that truly makes Morgan the best of his time: he notes that five years after, all New England congregations observed a day of fasting and prayer in atonements for the sins of the trials, and wonders whether we could ever see modern society doing the same. The answer, of course, is no, and gives us pause at facile notions of progress in history. This is a Morgan not often in evidence in his books, at times angry and slashing. His essay on the genocide of the Arawak Indians on Hispaniola persuasively speculates on just what it was that made Europeans feel the need to exterminate them. The very innocence and happiness of the Arawaks cast doubt on the entire frame of life that Christianity gave the Europeans. Yet at the same time, he is scrupulously non-presentist. He sees historical figures in THEIR context, not ours. Toward the end of the book, he takes on the standard account of the differing Yale presidencies of Ezra Stiles and Timothy Dwight, showing how a careful reconstruction of context can make one see facts completely differently from when they first appear. He brilliantly connects the leadership styles of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin demonstrating how their ability NOT to act when everyone else demanded that they take some sort of premature action set them apart. This is the sort of history writing that all scholars should aspire to, carefully noting the differences between time periods while also finding commonalities. Quite simply, this book is full of treats, whether it is his classic essay on The Puritans and Se

In my estimation, Edmund Morgan is one of the finest American historians of his or any other generation and I have read a number of his earlier books. Morgan is now 93 years old, so I was surprised to see a new book from him on the shelves. And of course, it turns out that the book is a collection of essays written over the past many years. Most of the pieces have been previously published. So, now you are forewarned. How much that matters depends in part on how much you enjoy reading Edmund Morgan, that rarest of birds, an academic historian who can tell a good story elegantly and simply, but not simplistically. Many of the essays trace familiar ground from Morgan's works on early America. For example, his elucidation of the Puritans as more complicated and interesting than you probably think is familiar to readers of The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop (Library of American Biography). Likewise, his views on James Madison's invention of the American people and thus created an American popular sovereignty that were developed in Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America. His essay Dangerous Books, while it may be familiar to a few readers of Gentle Puritan (judging by the absence of any ratings or reviews I'm guessing that number is very small), was new to me and worth the price of admission by itself. Morgan uses the life of Ezra Stiles at Yale (first as student, later as president) to extol the importance of libraries - and their danger to entrenched belief. Morgan's easy and elegant writing is on display: "It was probably inevitable that Ezra Stiles, placed in reach of the Yale Library, would sooner or later arrive at a number of heretical ideas." Stiles "read himself to the edge of deism with Shaftesbury and then tried to read himself back again...It might seem therefore that Ezra Stiles fully recovered from his bout with the library." But Stiles believed that truth would prevail when it came "forth in the open Field and dispute the matter on an equal Footing....only tyrants need fear the truth." Morgan concludes, "Ezra Stiles was, as you can see, a dangerous man. But the danger lay less in his own radical views than in the freedom he wanted for others, the freedom to read and from reading to think and speak the thoughts that dissolve old institutions and create new ones. That kind of freedom is as dangerous today [1959] as it was then. If we allow young men and women to read and think, we must expect that their thoughts will not be our thoughts and that they will violate much that we hold dear....The only way to make a library safe is to lock people out of it." While I felt a bit flimflammed by the book's cover that strongly implied the book contained new material, it is hard to complain when the result is reading a collection of essays on early Americans by Edmund Morgan. 4.5 stars. Highly recommended.

I'm no history buff - but I enjoyed this book. It's filled with essays on various people - stories you probably never heard. It was informative and thorough.

Pulitzer Prize winning author and emeritus professor of Yale University Edmund S. Morgan presents American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America, a close examination of notable individuals from seventeenth-century America with particular focus on their ideals, motivations, and beliefs. In addition to the unforgettable stock figures of America's history such as Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, Morgan tells the stories of lesser known individuals who embodied America's highest precepts, sometimes at the cost of their own lives - such as Mary Easty, an accused witch sentenced to death in Salem who refused to spare her own life by confessing her guilt and naming confederates among her neighbors. In addition to individuals, American Heroes also offers a wealth of insight into early American societies and cultures, particularly the Puritan culture. "As marriage was the way to prevent fornication, successful marriage was the way to prevent adultery. The Puritans did not wait for adultery to appear; instead, they took every means possible to make husbands and wives live together and respect each other. If a husband deserted his wife and remained within the jurisdiction of a Puritan government, he was promptly sent back to her." Enthusiastically recommended not only for public and college library collections, but also for any reader curious to better understand early American history and society.

American Heroes is a collection of essays about select individuals who made significant (perhaps even heroic) contributions to the founding of the United States. Most of these pieces were previously published in various magazines and journals (one in 1937!--this guy must be pretty old), but three of them are brand new. Some of the individuals he chooses to spotlight are familiar--John Winthrop, William Penn, Benjamin Franklin --while others will surprise you, such as Anne Hutchinson, who had the temerity to stand up to her Puritan church leaders and thereby plant the seeds of religious liberty; and the Anti-federalists, whose opposition to the adoption of the Constitution induced Congress to quickly approve the first ten amendments, known today as the Bill of Rights. The contributions made by the cast of characters Morgan trots out in this short tome have been chronicled by countless other authors. But Morgan provides astute explanations and keen analysis that cause you to see these people from a different perspective. You will learn that what Columbus expected to find once he reached his intended destination (the East Indies) greatly influenced his interaction with the people he encountered at his actual destination (the West Indies). You will discover why Native Americans, unlike most conquered peoples, resisted assimilation into the larger American Society (they didn't like our hierarchical form of government and they didn't give a tinker's damn about money). And you will wonder how the same people who extolled the virtues of reasoning and logic that characterized the Age of Enlightenment could turn around and burn someone for practicing witchcraft. But then Mr. Morgan will remind you that "witch hunts" have been a part of the American scene through the current day. Morgan has made a useful contribution to our understanding of who we are and how we are similar to, and different from, our ancestors. Highly recommended.