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| {{Infobox Biography| | | {{subpages}} |
| subject_name=|Charles Austin Beard|
| | '''Charles Austin Beard''' (November 27, 1874 - September 1, 1948) was an influential historian of the United States. He was a graduate of DePauw College in [[Indiana (U.S. state)|Indiana]] and of [[Columbia University]]. He is most noted for his economic interpretations of events which have become known as the [[Beardian School]] of [[Progressive historiography]]. He was married to [[Mary Ritter Beard]]. |
| image_name=Charles Austin Beard.jpg|
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| image_caption=|
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| date_of_birth=[[November 27]], [[1874]] |
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| place_of_birth=[[Knightstown, Indiana|Knightstown]], [[Indiana]], [[USA]] |
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| dead=dead |
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| date_of_death=[[September 1]], [[1948]], age 73 |
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| place_of_death=[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]], [[Connecticut]], [[USA]]
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| }} | |
| '''Charles Austin Beard''' ([[November 27]], [[1874]] - [[September 1]], [[1948]]) was, (along with [[Frederick Jackson Turner]]) the most influential American historian of the early 20th century. He published hundreds of monographs, textbooks and interpretive studies in both history and political science. He graduated from [[DePauw University]] in 1898, where he met and eventually married one of the founders of the first greek-letter society for women, [[Kappa Alpha Theta]]. | |
| ==Progressive Historiography==
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| As a leader of the "Progressive School" of historiography, he introduced themes of economic self-interest and economic conflict regarding the adoption of the Constitution and the transformations caused by the Civil War. Thus he emphasized the long-term conflict among industrialists in the Northeast, farmers in the Midwest, and planters in the South that he saw as the cause of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. His study of the financial interests of the drafters of the [[United States Constitution]] (''[[An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution]]'') seemed radical in [[1913]], since he proposed that the U.S. Constitution was a product of economically determinist, land-holding [[Founding Fathers of the United States|founding fathers]]. He saw ideology as a product of economic interests.
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| Beard's most influential book was the wide-ranging and bestselling ''The Rise of American Civilization'' (1927) and its two sequels, ''America in Midpassage'' (1939), and ''The American Spirit'' (1943), written with Mary Beard.
| | ==Biography== |
| | ===Youth and Education=== |
| | ===Teaching Career=== |
| | ===Career after Columbia=== |
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| Dealing with Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, disciples of Beard such as Howard Beale and [[C. Vann Woodward]] focused on greed and economic causation and emphasized the centrality of corruption. They argued that the rhetoric of equal rights was a smokescreen hiding their true motivation, which was promoting the interests of industrialists in the Northeast. The basic flaw was the assumption that there was a unified business policy. Scholars in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that businessmen were widely divergent on monetary or tariff policy. While Pennsylvania businessmen wanted high tariffs, those in other states did not; the railroads were hurt by the tariffs on steel, which they purchased in large quantity. (Hofstadter 1979) [[Forrest McDonald]] In ''We The People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution'' (1958) argued that Charles Beard had misinterpreted the economic interests involved in writing the Constitution. Instead of two interests, landed and mercantile, which conflicted, there were three dozen identifiable interests that forced the delegates to bargain.
| | ==Politics== |
| | ===Isolationist Foreign Policy=== |
| | Beard initially support [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and the [[New Deal]]. But when Roosevelt began arguing for a more forceful stand against foreign aggression, Beard started to denounce the President. He advanced an idea called "American Continentalism" |
| | *There was no vital U.S. interest in Europe |
| | *U.S. involvement in foreign war would risk the suspension of liberties at home leading to a dictatorship. |
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| Beard's economic approach lost favor in the history profession after 1950 as conservative scholars demonstrated the serious flaws in Beard's research, and attention turned away from economic causation. <ref> Hofstadter 1969</ref> | | Beard favored isolationism. |
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| ==Labor education==
| | In his last book, ''President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War'' (1948), Beard claimed that Roosevelt lied to the American people about his foreign policy ultimately forcing them into war. Internationalists denounced Beard and he was done. |
| Beard's interest in progressive higher education was an early one. In [[1899]], he collaborated with [[John Ruskin]] at [[Oxford]] in the founding of [[Ruskin House]], the first institution of [[labor education]], and which set in motion a succession of failed attempts in the [[United States]] which finally culminated with the founding of the [[National Labor College]] in [[1999]].
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| After resigning from [[Columbia University]] in protest in 1917, he helped to found the [[New School for Social Research]] in [[New York City|New York]], and advised on reconstructing [[Tokyo]] after the earthquake of 1923. Although enormously influential through his massive writings, he did not have graduate students or build a school of [[historiography]].
| | Not until the 1990s did Beard's views about American isolationism again have political favor, this time from conservative politicians such as [[Pat Buchanan]]. |
| ==Mary Beard, wife and coauthor==
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| Many of his books were written in collaboration with his wife, [[Mary Ritter Beard]] whose own interests lay in [[feminism]] and the [[labor union]] movement (''Woman as a Force in History,'' 1946). Together they wrote a popular survey, ''The Beards: Basic History of the United States''.
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| ==Isolationist foreign policy== | | ===Political Scientist=== |
| Starting as a leading liberal supporter of the [[New Deal]], Beard turned against [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s aggressive foreign policy. Beard promoted "American Continentalism," arguing that the U.S. had no vital stake in Europe, and that a foreign war would threaten dictatorship at home. Beard was thus one of the leading proponents of [[United States isolationism]]. After the war, Beard's last work (''President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War'', 1948) blamed Roosevelt for lying to the American people and tricking them into war. It generated angry controversy as internationalists denounced Beard as an apologist for isolationism. As a result, Beard's reputation collapsed among liberal historians who previously had admired him. His whole interpretation of history came under widespread attack, though a few leading historians such as Beale and Woodward clung to the Beardian interpretation of American history.
| | For his work on the Constitution and for his work on the municipal rebuilding of Tokyo, Beard was elected president of the [[American Political Science Association]]. |
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| Recently however, Beard's isolationist approach, especially his advocacy of a non-interventionist foreign policy, have enjoyed something of a comeback. [[Andrew Bacevich]], a historian of diplomacy from [[Boston University]], has used Beard's skepticism towards armed intervention overseas as a starting point for his own critique of post-Cold War American foreign policy. Beard is heavily cited in Bacevich's analysis of this policy, ''American Empire''. In addition, Beard's foreign policy views have become popular with supporters of [[paleoconservatism]], such as [[Pat Buchanan]]. Beard's stress on economic causation influenced the "Wisconsin school" of [[New Left]] historians [[William Appleman Williams]], [[Gabriel Kolko]], and [[James Weinstein]].
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| ==Political scientist==
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| In the field of political science, Beard was elected president of the American Political Science Association. He was best known for his studies of the Constitution, and for his creation of bureaus of municipal research and his studies of public administration in cities, including a famous study of Tokyo, '' The Administration and Politics of Tokyo,'' (1923).
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| ==Bibliography== | | ==Historiography== |
| *[http://www.historians.org/info/AHA_History/cabeardbibliography.htm]
| | ===Progressive Historiography=== |
| Bibliography of the writings of Charles Beard]
| | Beard was part of the "progressive historians" along with [[Carl Becker]], [[James Harvey Robinson]], [[Vernon L. Parrington]], and [[Frederick Jackson Turner]]. |
| *Clyde W. Barrow. ''More Than a Historian: The Political and Economic Thought of Charles A. Beard.'' (2000).
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| * Bernard C. Borning; ''The Political and Social Thought of Charles A. Beard.'' University of Washington Press, 1962 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=72526471 online edition]
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| *Robert Eldon Brown, ''Charles Beard and the Constitution: A critical analysis of "An economic interpretation of the Constitution"'' (1954).
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| *Bacevich, Andrew J. ''American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy''. (2002) argues that while Beard might have been wrong about the need to oppose Hitler, he assessed how American economic interests drive foreign policy.
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| *Nancy F. Cott. ''A Woman Making History: Mary Ritter Beard through Her Letters.'' (1991).
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| *[http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_008500_beardcharles.htm Cott, Nancy. Online article from ''The Reader's Companion to American History'']
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| *Dennis, L. (1990) ''George S. Counts and Charles A. Beard: Collaborators for Change. (SUNY Series in the Philosophy of Education).'' State Univ of New York Press.
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| * Marc Egnal, "The Beards Were Right: Parties in the North, 1840-1860," ''Civil War History'', Vol. 47, 2001
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| * Richard Hofstadter, ''The Progressive Historians: Turner, Beard, Parrington'' (1979), analysis of Beard's historiography.
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| * Kennedy, Thomas C. ''Charles A. Beard and American Foreign Policy'' (1975) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14522811 online edition]
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| * [[Forrest McDonald]] ''We The People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution'' (1958)
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| * Ellen Nore. ''Charles A. Beard: An Intellectual Biography'' (1983). [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=104597952 online edition]
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| * Ronald Radosh. ''Prophets on the Right: Profiles of Conservative Critics of American Globalism'' (1978)
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| * Strout, Cushing. ''The Pragmatic Revolt in American History: Carl Becker and Charles Beard'' (1958) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=27887073 online edition]
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| ===Primary sources===
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| * {{gutenberg author| id=Beard+Charles+A. | name=Charles A. Beard}}
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| *Beard, Charles. ''An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States'' (1913).
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| *Beard, Charles. ''Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy, '' (1915) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65989719 online edition]
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| *Beard, Charles. '' The Administration and Politics of Tokyo,'' (1923) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=556249 online edition]
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| ==External links==
| | Beard's interpretative stance was that economic "forces" collide with each other producing conflict and change. Beard explained that these clashes of economic forces produced some of the most dramatic episodes in U.S. history: the writing of the [[Constitution]] and the [[American Civil War]]. |
| * [http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/mcguire.constitution.us.economic.interests Recent empirical research on Beard's thesis and economic factors behind the American Constitution] from EH.NET's Encyclopedia.
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| * {{Gutenberg|no=16960|name=History of the United States}} a school textbook by Beard
| | In ''An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution'' (1913), he proposed that the U.S. Constitution was less a matter of political values of the Founding Fathers and more a product of their economic interests. That is, he saw political ideology as a minor byproduct of economic interests. Beard's interpretation held sway for 40 years until [[Robert Brown]] (1954) revealed its contradictions and [[Forrest McDonald]] (1958) showed that Beard had misinterpreted the economic interests involved in writing the Constitution. Instead of two interests, landed and mercantile, which conflicted, McDonald identified over thirty interests that forced the delegates to bargain. |
| * [http://www.iefd.org/articles/class_and_pluralism.php Class and Pluralism in America: The Constitution Reconsidered]
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| | Beard with his wife [[Mary Beard]], wrote a best-selling history, ''The Rise of American Civilization'' (1927). They composed also two sequels: ''America in Midpassage'' (1939) and ''The American Spirit'' (1943). |
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| | Beard's most influential book was the wide-ranging and bestselling , written with Mary Beard. |
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| | Beard was elected president of the [[American Historical Association]] in 1933. |
| | |
| | Dealing with Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, disciples of Beard such as |
| | [[Howard K. Beale]], a Beardian disciple, used Beardian analysis in his study of the Gilded Age. |
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| | [[C. Vann Woodward]], another Beardian disciple focused on the Reconstruction period. |
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| | Their approaches were later found to be flawed.(Hofstadter 1979) |
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| | Following World War Two, Beard's approach to history lost favor among historians. Historians, led by [[Richard Hofstadter]] began downplaying the conflict of forces and began emphasis a consensus of shared values. |
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| | Beard resigned his professorship at [[Columbia University]] when the United States entered World War One. Following this protest he helped found the [[New School for Social Research]]. |
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| | During 1923, he advised the Japanese government in the reconstruction of Tokyo following the earthquake. '' The Administration and Politics of Tokyo'' (1923). |
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| | Beard's economic forces-in-conflict approach was taken up by Wisconsin graduates who formed the [[New Left]] historians: [[William Appleman Williams]], [[Gabriel Kolko]], and [[James Weinstein]]. |
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| | ==Footnotes== |
| | {{reflist|2}} |
Charles Austin Beard (November 27, 1874 - September 1, 1948) was an influential historian of the United States. He was a graduate of DePauw College in Indiana and of Columbia University. He is most noted for his economic interpretations of events which have become known as the Beardian School of Progressive historiography. He was married to Mary Ritter Beard.
Biography
Youth and Education
Teaching Career
Career after Columbia
Politics
Isolationist Foreign Policy
Beard initially support Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. But when Roosevelt began arguing for a more forceful stand against foreign aggression, Beard started to denounce the President. He advanced an idea called "American Continentalism"
- There was no vital U.S. interest in Europe
- U.S. involvement in foreign war would risk the suspension of liberties at home leading to a dictatorship.
Beard favored isolationism.
In his last book, President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War (1948), Beard claimed that Roosevelt lied to the American people about his foreign policy ultimately forcing them into war. Internationalists denounced Beard and he was done.
Not until the 1990s did Beard's views about American isolationism again have political favor, this time from conservative politicians such as Pat Buchanan.
Political Scientist
For his work on the Constitution and for his work on the municipal rebuilding of Tokyo, Beard was elected president of the American Political Science Association.
Historiography
Progressive Historiography
Beard was part of the "progressive historians" along with Carl Becker, James Harvey Robinson, Vernon L. Parrington, and Frederick Jackson Turner.
Beard's interpretative stance was that economic "forces" collide with each other producing conflict and change. Beard explained that these clashes of economic forces produced some of the most dramatic episodes in U.S. history: the writing of the Constitution and the American Civil War.
In An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution (1913), he proposed that the U.S. Constitution was less a matter of political values of the Founding Fathers and more a product of their economic interests. That is, he saw political ideology as a minor byproduct of economic interests. Beard's interpretation held sway for 40 years until Robert Brown (1954) revealed its contradictions and Forrest McDonald (1958) showed that Beard had misinterpreted the economic interests involved in writing the Constitution. Instead of two interests, landed and mercantile, which conflicted, McDonald identified over thirty interests that forced the delegates to bargain.
Beard with his wife Mary Beard, wrote a best-selling history, The Rise of American Civilization (1927). They composed also two sequels: America in Midpassage (1939) and The American Spirit (1943).
Beard's most influential book was the wide-ranging and bestselling , written with Mary Beard.
Beard was elected president of the American Historical Association in 1933.
Dealing with Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, disciples of Beard such as
Howard K. Beale, a Beardian disciple, used Beardian analysis in his study of the Gilded Age.
C. Vann Woodward, another Beardian disciple focused on the Reconstruction period.
Their approaches were later found to be flawed.(Hofstadter 1979)
Following World War Two, Beard's approach to history lost favor among historians. Historians, led by Richard Hofstadter began downplaying the conflict of forces and began emphasis a consensus of shared values.
Beard resigned his professorship at Columbia University when the United States entered World War One. Following this protest he helped found the New School for Social Research.
During 1923, he advised the Japanese government in the reconstruction of Tokyo following the earthquake. The Administration and Politics of Tokyo (1923).
Beard's economic forces-in-conflict approach was taken up by Wisconsin graduates who formed the New Left historians: William Appleman Williams, Gabriel Kolko, and James Weinstein.
