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What are the great driving forces in human history? Some historians, most notably Thomas Carlyle, have claimed that great people make history.
Carlyle wrote about Napoleon, but clearly others would qualify — for example, Christ, Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, as well as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Others have argued that human nature has been the engine behind historical change. People like Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith pointed to individual freedom in pursuit of self-interest as the great agent of change within society. Others have shown us that human nature has a dark side-greed, corruption, abuses of power-leading to change as well.
Another theory of history was espoused by Karl Marx. Marx argued that history was the result of economic forces at work in society. In Marx's view, all of history could be explained as an inevitable struggle between classes.
As a lover of books, I would like to argue that literacy and the written word have played at least as important a role in the unfolding of history.
There was a time in human history when literacy was a rare commodity, monopolized by the Church and the universities it controlled. While literacy increased due to the growth of commercial activity starting in the 1300s, it was a religious revolution — Protestantism — that made literacy a necessity ordinary people.
Once the printing press (thank you, Johan) made Bibles available to more people, a sense of religious independence grew. Martin Luther, the spearhead of this protest, argued that people should no longer be dependent on others (i.e., priests) for an interpretation of the Bible. Literacy and the availability of bibles meant that each individual was capable of bible study and, indeed, had control over their own salvation.
Later, higher levels of literacy would be used in democratic political revolutions to inform and arouse people to action. Take the American Revolution as an example. We can point to the important roles played by great revolutionary leaders like Washington, Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, but consider how important a little book entitled “Common Sense” (1776) by Thomas Paine was in motivating colonists to support and fight in the revolution. For Paine, a master of rhetoric, it was a simple idea but one that colonists could wrap their minds around: It made no sense for an island to govern a continent. As well, we could read the dramatic and moving words in the Declaration of Independence and see clearly how they must have had an important impact on colonists who were actually fighting for independence.
Throughout our history, important books laid the foundation for change. For example, consider the role that Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom's Cabin” (1852) played in molding views of slavery prior to the Civil War.
Later, a number of books were written to expose abuses of power that led to government action. Ida Tarbell's two-volume “History of the Standard Oil Company” (1904) helped mold public opinion against the concentration of power in the oil industry and eventually led to the break up of Standard Oil. Historians give the “trust buster” Teddy Roosevelt credit, but Tarbell's work led the way.
Or, another example: The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 most likely would not have been passed had it not been for the publication of Upton Sinclair's “The Jungle” in 1906, a novel set in the meat packing houses of Chicago at the turn of the century. (I didn't eat hot dogs for years after reading this book.)
Or consider how books like John Steinbeck's “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) gave a voice to the anger and despair brought on by the Depression and forever changed the public's view of justice, power and the role of government in people's lives. Look further at the effect that Harper Lee's Pulitzer-prize winning novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” (1961) had on awareness of prejudice and race relations prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The martyr's death of President Kennedy, the steadfastness of Martin Luther King and the advocacy of Lyndon Johnson are given their due credit for the passage of the act, but we cannot discount important pieces of literature like Lee's great book.
Other books helped to change history: Rachel Carson's “Silent Spring” (1962), a manifesto for the environmental movement; Betty Friedan's “Feminine Mystique” (1963), a book Alvin Toffler called “the book that pulled the trigger on history”; and David Halberstam's “The Best and the Brightest” (1969), a book John McCain said is “For anyone who aspires to a position of national leadership.”
Which books today will be given credit for changing the course of history? My choice: Thomas Friedman's “The World is Flat” (2005). What's your choice?
All of the books mentioned here are available at your Summit County library. If the book you want is not on the shelf, we can get it for you.
Carlyle wrote about Napoleon, but clearly others would qualify — for example, Christ, Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, as well as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Others have argued that human nature has been the engine behind historical change. People like Thomas Jefferson and Adam Smith pointed to individual freedom in pursuit of self-interest as the great agent of change within society. Others have shown us that human nature has a dark side-greed, corruption, abuses of power-leading to change as well.
Another theory of history was espoused by Karl Marx. Marx argued that history was the result of economic forces at work in society. In Marx's view, all of history could be explained as an inevitable struggle between classes.
As a lover of books, I would like to argue that literacy and the written word have played at least as important a role in the unfolding of history.
There was a time in human history when literacy was a rare commodity, monopolized by the Church and the universities it controlled. While literacy increased due to the growth of commercial activity starting in the 1300s, it was a religious revolution — Protestantism — that made literacy a necessity ordinary people.
Once the printing press (thank you, Johan) made Bibles available to more people, a sense of religious independence grew. Martin Luther, the spearhead of this protest, argued that people should no longer be dependent on others (i.e., priests) for an interpretation of the Bible. Literacy and the availability of bibles meant that each individual was capable of bible study and, indeed, had control over their own salvation.
Later, higher levels of literacy would be used in democratic political revolutions to inform and arouse people to action. Take the American Revolution as an example. We can point to the important roles played by great revolutionary leaders like Washington, Franklin, Adams and Jefferson, but consider how important a little book entitled “Common Sense” (1776) by Thomas Paine was in motivating colonists to support and fight in the revolution. For Paine, a master of rhetoric, it was a simple idea but one that colonists could wrap their minds around: It made no sense for an island to govern a continent. As well, we could read the dramatic and moving words in the Declaration of Independence and see clearly how they must have had an important impact on colonists who were actually fighting for independence.
Throughout our history, important books laid the foundation for change. For example, consider the role that Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom's Cabin” (1852) played in molding views of slavery prior to the Civil War.
Later, a number of books were written to expose abuses of power that led to government action. Ida Tarbell's two-volume “History of the Standard Oil Company” (1904) helped mold public opinion against the concentration of power in the oil industry and eventually led to the break up of Standard Oil. Historians give the “trust buster” Teddy Roosevelt credit, but Tarbell's work led the way.
Or, another example: The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 most likely would not have been passed had it not been for the publication of Upton Sinclair's “The Jungle” in 1906, a novel set in the meat packing houses of Chicago at the turn of the century. (I didn't eat hot dogs for years after reading this book.)
Or consider how books like John Steinbeck's “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) gave a voice to the anger and despair brought on by the Depression and forever changed the public's view of justice, power and the role of government in people's lives. Look further at the effect that Harper Lee's Pulitzer-prize winning novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” (1961) had on awareness of prejudice and race relations prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The martyr's death of President Kennedy, the steadfastness of Martin Luther King and the advocacy of Lyndon Johnson are given their due credit for the passage of the act, but we cannot discount important pieces of literature like Lee's great book.
Other books helped to change history: Rachel Carson's “Silent Spring” (1962), a manifesto for the environmental movement; Betty Friedan's “Feminine Mystique” (1963), a book Alvin Toffler called “the book that pulled the trigger on history”; and David Halberstam's “The Best and the Brightest” (1969), a book John McCain said is “For anyone who aspires to a position of national leadership.”
Which books today will be given credit for changing the course of history? My choice: Thomas Friedman's “The World is Flat” (2005). What's your choice?
All of the books mentioned here are available at your Summit County library. If the book you want is not on the shelf, we can get it for you.
