Review: Battle for the “Soul of America” It is as old as America, one historian noted (3rd revision)

Glossary:

1. Secessionist

2. fealty

3. demagogic

4. deplorable

5. adroit

6. entreat

The article opened with the invocation to one of the most famous sentences quoted by Abraham Lincoln which goes like:

“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Lincoln was referring to the tension between the South and North just before the outbreak of the Civil War. By describing the South and the North as the “swelling in the chorus of union”, it is evident the President had hope for the division of the country to resolve be put to an end and eventually reunited through the better angel of our nature or the historical bond that once held us so close together.

What is the better angel of our nature?

In my humble opinion, it is the peaceful life that we all long for in the deep side of our hearts. We grew up reading plenty of literary works either documenting or depict “war” and “dispute” as their theme. Whether the story ends in peace or sorrow, they all reminded us of the fact that, no matter how disagreeable our rival seems and how firmly we believe our claim to be, both perspectives were only partial truth of the whole picture. Taking the shield of Achilles as an example, by depicting the two cites, one in peace and the other besieged by war, Homer reminded us the blood scene we see in the Iliad only took up half of the perspectives of the shield. While both sides, the Greek and the Trojan, have much to say for each of their claims, we can’t neglect the tremendous price they both pay and the peaceful life that they renounced. Why did they fight? Weren’t they all fighting for peace that rooted so deeply by the better angels within themselves?

 I think our self-righteous hindered the better angel.  The law God put in our inward part and is written in our heart.  We deny the better angel

Throughout the history of America, each president and the people have always seemed to strive for a social reform and equality, or the “vital center” as Mecham put it in his book “the soul of America”.

Quote

It is a public philosophy akin to what Schlesinger described as the politics of “the vital center,” devoted to egalitarian reform but disbelieving in human perfection, fierce in its advocacy but humble in the face of human folly.

Unquote

It seems, despite our greatest effort or well intention, there are always setbacks, or even our own weakness, stand in the way. Covering from the old days to now, from the forming of Confederate State of America to the current unwelcoming policy of Trump, our souls are still struggling to reach the chorus of the union.

In his book “the souls of America”, Mecham returns to the other moment of our history when fears and division were rampant. By doing so he reminds us that the current political confusion is not unprecedented. Mecham also provides history with the lesson for the present, judging the past in its own terms rather than settling on easy sententious account of the right-thinking.

In concluding remarks, he pointed out that the history did not bring an easy triumph. Thus, it makes sense to recall, as Meacham does, Lincoln’s invocation of our better angels in his First Inaugural. To fight for the national ideal or our souls requires more than the angel of our nature.