Two Concepts of the American Experience

Louis Hartz first published The Liberal Tradition in America in 1955, during the heart of the Cold War. His exploration of the word "liberal" is, therefore, written during a time before its meaning had evolved into a more pejorative term. He is, in fact, using the word in one of its older senses, "the classic Lockian sense" (4), that of an openness to political, religious, and economic freedom. This was the general sense of the word when the nation was founded, before it became "clouded as it is by all sorts of modern social reform connotations" (4).

"Liberal" has become something of a negative label, one that often accuses its followers of a sloppy disregard for social responsibility and tries to provide government solutions for situations that ought to instead be taken care of on an indivi

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such a liberal perspective possible is the crux of Eric Foner's argument in The Story of American Freedom. In some respects, his perspective provides a focus and framework for Hartz's argument, making Foner's the broader conversation. Foner writes, "No idea is more fundamental to Americans' sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation than freedom" (xiii). Freedom made liberalism possible, allowed individuals the possibility of considering other points of view and other desires. Foner argues that freedom, more than any other quality, was the founding force behind the American political system and continues to mold the evolving state. Foner sees freedom as the guiding impulse behind all stages of American history. He observes that the three most significant processes in the growth of America were "territorial expansion, political democratization, and the rapid spread of market relations" (48), all of which were powerfully affected by the idea of freedom and all of which influenced the ways in which freedom was looked at during this time. By the same token, the liberal tradition encouraged an expanding concept of freedom: "Changes in economic and religious life strongly encouraged the spread of a liberal understanding
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Approximate Word count = 2075
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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