Ch. 5: The Escape From History
(5b)
The Antiquarians: History as Sentimentalism
http://www.vanguardnewsnetwork.com/M...s-FAC-Ch5b.mp3 (34m)
Notes: The Antiquarians: History as Sentimentalism: such respect as American writers got abroad came thru our historians (not our novelists), prior to 1850. history began to decline in 1840s; up till then it was major interest in books and magazines. did not revive until 1870s, in different form. instead of national synthesizing historians newly worried about actual facts, history became dominated by clergy and women, writing about local stuff, calling themselves compilers, distinctly antiquarian, and concerned with rescuing X from "oblivion." modern (1850) preachers felt they were being ignored or given short shrift, but they also pretty much knew they were mucher lighter weight than the jonathan edwards and Puritan fathers they sprang from. women felt they and their tasks were ignored - everything about puritan fathers, never the mothers. Elizabeth Ellet: The Women of the American Revolution (three vol., 1848 to 1850). "the feminine fifties" - the rise of the domestic novel (1850s) and the ending of major historical fiction like Sedgwick's. harried beecher stowe was the only major writer who was mainly an historical fictionist. domestic life became the main concern, and this carried over into 20th century magazines - and domestic stuff is anti-historical. ... pacifism was a thing between 1815-1850. david low dodge. american peace society. many clergy and women.