A Revolt Against Liberalism: American Radical Historians, 1959-1976This is the first study to provide a comprehensive picture of the revolt brought about by American radical historians in the 1960s and 1970s. With the turbulent sixties as a backdrop, the work of radical luminaries like Eugene Genovese, Herbert Gutman, Staughton Lynd, William Appleman Williams and Howard Zinn is discussed. These historians made a significant contribution to present-day notions about slavery, working-class history, the New Deal, the Cold War and a wealth of other subjects. Their main target was American liberalism. Radical criticism centered on the liberal concepts of the division of power and of the nature of man. The acrimonious debate which ensued tore the historical profession apart. Therefore most historians have stressed the disagreements between liberals and radicals. Yet, in this study it will be argued that in some respects the radicals were part and parcel of mainstream historiography, though they presented a radical version of it. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
POWER IN AMERICA | 7 |
THE RESISTANCE THE SEARCH FOR A RADICAL PAST | 103 |
EUGENE GENOVESE AND AMERICAN SLAVERY | 167 |
POLITICS AND HISTORY | 221 |
CONCLUSION | 239 |
NOTES | 245 |
| 275 | |
| 293 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionists American diplomacy American foreign policy American history American society Beard Blassingame Buhle capitalism capitalist class struggle Cold Cold War communist conflicts consensus corporations crisis criticism culture Deal democracy democratic Domhoff Eakins eds economic elite Elkins Eugene Genovese fifties Fogel and Engerman Gabriel Kolko Genovese's groups Hartz Herbert Gutman Hofstadter Horowitz Howard Zinn Idem ideology important intellectual interest interpretation interview James Weinstein Kennan Kolko Kraditor LaFeber Left leftist Lemisch liberal historians Louis Hartz Lynd's Marxist moderate revisionists Montgomery Moreover nation Negro party percent political Pollack population Populists Progressive Movement protests quote Radical America radical historians radical historiography Radosh Rawick reform remarked Review revolution revolutionary Roll Ronald Radosh Roosevelt ruling class Russian Schlesinger sixties slaveholders slavery slaves social socialist South Soviet Union Stampp Staughton Lynd Studies trade unions Truman Truman Doctrine United Vietnam W.E.B. DuBois wave of radicals Williams's workers working-class wrote