Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story (Young Readers Edition, Volume 1)

by Wilfred M. McClay Narrated by Adam Verner

Overview

The American story begins before there was an America at all, except in the imagination of peoples around the world, living in poverty and yearning for freedom. From its beginnings America has been a land of hope, a magnet for people looking for a new beginning, a new life for themselves and their families. Out of their efforts, a new nation gradually came into being. It was a nation formed by men and women who believed that freedom meant being able to rule themselves, rather than being ruled over by distant kings and princes. Such a nation would be a great experiment, a large republic unlike any other in history. Through a brave war of independence, and wise acts of statecraft, its leaders created a system of government that could protect the ideals of freedom and self-rule that they cherished. It was a brilliant system. But it was far from perfect, especially in its permitting the continued existence of slavery. It could not prevent a bloody and wounding civil war, a terrible contest pitting brother against brother and testing the great experiment to the breaking point-testing, but not breaking. The nation came out of the Civil War and postwar Reconstruction battered, but with a future full of possibility lying ahead.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Land of Hope (Young Reader's Editions):

“Professor McClay has brought faith, hope, and charity to this comprehensive and readable narration of our National Story.”

—Will Fitzhugh, The Concord Review

“This affirmative, evenhanded review of American history, institutions, and character is refreshing, and comes none too soon, when so many accounts are merely trying to settle scores. Beautifully written and fair-minded, Land of Hope ranks among the finest surveys of the nation’s past.”

—Gilbert T. Sewall, American Textbook Council

“Every page pops with the extraordinary achievements, near misses, and frustrating failures of a nation formed by the common pursuit of liberty and happiness.”

 —Robert L. Jackson, Institute for Classical Education 

“Our children stand at risk of not knowing who they are as inheritors and keepers of American freedom. Enter Wilfred M. McClay. This latest edition of his beautiful narrative forms a compelling vision of America’s past.”

—Andrew J. Zwerneman, Cana Academy 

“Students fortunate enough to encounter these volumes will become better readers and more knowledgeable citizens.”

— Lucien Ellington, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

“Our nation is facing challenges from those who contend that America was founded on evil principles and should be effectively dismantled. This superbly readable volume tells the story of America accurately—critiquing what we got wrong but praising the many things we got right. This approach will produce fair-minded citizens who are loyal to our ideals but who are also willing to challenge our leaders to live up to them.”

— Michael Farris, president & CEO, Alliance Defending Freedom, and founder, Home School Legal Defense Association

“This Young Readers Edition brings the great American story into the lives of late primary and middle-school children. We use it in Hillsdale College’s affiliated K-12 schools, and enthusiastically recommend it to any teacher or parent.”

— Dr. Kathleen O'Toole, Assistant Provost for K-12 Education, Hillsdale College

Praise for Land of Hope:

“At a time of severe partisanship that has infected many accounts of our nation’s past, this brilliant new history, Land of Hope, written in lucid and often lyrical prose, is much needed. It is accurate, honest, and free of the unhistorical condescension so often paid to the people of America’s past. This generous but not uncritical story of our nation’s history ought to be read by every American. It explains and justifies the right kind of patriotism.”
— Gordon S. Wood, author of Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

“Those who are acquainted with Wilfred McClay’s writing will not be surprised that Land of Hope, his latest book, is a lucid and engaging account of the ‘great American story.’ McClay is a charming storyteller—and a first-rate scholar and appreciator of America’s political and cultural development.”
— Michael Barone, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, senior political analyst at the Washington Examiner, and coauthor of The Almanac of American Politics

“We’ve long needed a readable text that truly tells the American story, neither hiding the serious injustices in our history nor soft-pedaling our nation’s extraordinary achievements. Such a text cannot be a mere compilation of facts, and it certainly could not be written by someone lacking a deep understanding and appreciation of America’s constitutional ideals and institutions. Bringing his impressive skills as a political theorist, historian, and writer to bear, Wilfred McClay has supplied the need.”
— Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

“In a time when America seems pulled in opposite directions, Wilfred McClay has written a necessary book—the most balanced, nuanced history of the United States I have read in the past fifty years.”
— Daniel Henninger, deputy editor, editorial page, The Wall Street Journal

“Too many recent historians have tried to rewrite America’s history as a tale of squalor and exploitation. Wilfred McClay tells it like it is: as a story of hope.”
— Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee

“No one has told the story of America with greater balance or better prose than Wilfred McClay. Land of Hope is a history book that you will not be able to put down. From the moment that ‘natives’ first crossed here over the Bering Strait, to the founding of America’s great experiment in republican government, to the horror and triumph of the Civil War, and to the stirring election of Barack Obama, McClay’s account will capture your attention while offering an unforgettable education.”
— James W. Ceaser, Professor of Politics, University of Virginia

“I wish Land of Hope had been there when I was teaching U.S. history. It is history as literature—broad, detailed, compassionate—and it can help anyone who wants to know where we came from and how we got here. Professor McClay has made a welcome gift to the history of our country.”
— Will Fitzhugh, Founder, The Concord Review

“This is the most cheerful and inspiring history of America written so far this century. Where most historians emphasize fragmentation and oppression, McClay makes the case for a unified national story characterized by optimism and achievement. Without downplaying dismaying episodes, past and present, he shows how they have been offset by the American pursuit of reform, revival, and improvement. Old heroes like George Washington are restored to their rightful place. America is far from perfect, McClay admits, but it is genuinely dedicated to the ideals of equality and democracy, and there is much to be proud of. I can imagine schools and colleges assigning this book with a sense of gratitude and confidence.”
— Patrick Allitt, Cahoon Family Professor of American History, Emory University

“In Land of Hope, Bill McClay succeeds at multitasking. He has written not only a learned and readable history of the United States, from Columbus to Trump, with balance and integrity but has provided an insightful primer on the meaning of citizenship itself. McClay reminds us that although history holds no easy lessons, its honest practice proves indispensable in preventing the future from proceeding in darkness. Those entrusted with teaching young minds about the discipline of history as well as history will find in this volume much to fortify them.”
— Robert Paquette, Professor of History and President, The Alexander Hamilton Institute

“This book is the antidote to abysmal levels of historical knowledge our high school graduates possess. History bores them; the textbooks are dreary; lessons play up guilt and identity politics. It turns them off. They want powerful tales and momentous events, genuine heroes and villains, too—an accurate but stirring rendition of the past. This is Bill McClay’s Land of Hope, a superb historian’s version of the American story, in lively prose spiced with keen analysis and compelling drama. Every school that assigns this book will see students’ eyes brighten when the Civil War comes up, the Progressive Era, the Depression, civil rights . . . The kids want an authentic, meaningful heritage, a usable past. McClay makes it real.”
— Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation

“Land of Hope is in every way a remarkable piece of work, clearly written and as balanced and fair-minded as any American history you will ever read. Land of Hope operates on the assumption that the past remains a necessary part of us, something we must both understand and learn from. It refuses the all-too-common view that we today are simply superior to our own history, a history that amounts to little more than a grab bag of chicanery, venality, and self-interest. Instead, it is an attempt to lay out the political history of our nation, the dilemmas we faced, the choices we made, and the ideas that shaped and reshaped our American creed.”
— John Agresto, Professor of Political Science, former President of St. John’s College, and author of Rediscovering America

“Wilfred McClay has written more than a textbook. His affirmative, even-handed review of American history, institutions, and character is refreshing, and comes none too soon, when so many accounts are merely trying to settle scores. Beautifully written and fair minded, Land of Hope ranks among finest surveys of the nation’s past.”
— Gilbert T. Sewall

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176029796
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	06/21/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Beginnings

But where to begin?  How far back do we go?

If we try to tell the whole story, we might end up going back many thousands of years. And there’s much we really don’t know for certain. We believe that the first human settlers came over into the western hemisphere perhaps 20,000–30,000 years ago from northeastern Asia, probably by crossing over what is now the Bering Strait, the frigid waters that separate Russia and Alaska. From there, we believe that these first immigrants to America gradually filtered outward and downward, eventually populating all of North and South America.

From those migrant peoples emerged some highly advanced cultures, which rose, flourished, and fell. The Mayas and Aztecs of Mexico, the Incas of Peru, the North American settlements, the Pueblo of the Southwest – all of them blazed a trail across time but left behind for us only a few physical reminders of themselves, silent clues to a vanished way of life.

There is something haunting about these remaining traces of earlier civilizations. In a sense, they are a part of our history, even if we know next to nothing about them. Their mysterious life and death haunt us with a somber recognition: the realization that our civilization, too, is perishable and can disappear in the same way.

But we won’t begin our story with those civilizations past, for the simple reason that they had no direct or significant role in the establishment of the settlements and institutions that would eventually make up the country we know as the United States.

Neither did the later discovery and exploration around the year 1000 of a New World by adventurous Norse seamen, such as Leif Eriksson of Iceland. He tried to plant a colony in what is now the large Canadian island of Newfoundland. He and other Norsemen tried their best to establish a settlement in this chilly newfound land to the west. But their efforts came to nothing and are generally counted as historical curiosities. They are interesting false starts on American history, perhaps, but no more than that.

And yet, on further reflection, I need to modify that statement, for the lost civilizations of the first Americans and the episodic voyages of Eriksson and other Norsemen point toward the deepest sources of American history. They point to the presence of America in the world’s imagination as an idea, as a land of hope, of refuge and opportunity, of a second chance at life for those willing to take it. Ideas are as much a part of history as battles, elections, and other deeds. And that idea, and the persistence of that idea, is one of the themes of this book. It is in the book’s title itself.

Perhaps I am making a stretch here. After all, how can we ever know for sure what led those earliest peoples 20,000 years ago to cross over into Alaska and make the cold, dangerous journey to populate a new continent? How can we know what was in their minds? Were they pushed by war or scarcity? Were they hunters who were following their prey? Or were they pulled there by the sense of promise, opportunity, or adventure that those lands offered?

We don’t know. The answers to these questions will probably always remain beyond our reach. But we know that the Norsemen’s brave impulse of over a thousand years ago, which drove them to go forth in search of new lands, came out of something more than necessity. They were drawn to cross the icy and turbulent waters of the North Atlantic by the lure of available western lands and by a restless desire to explore and settle them. They were being influenced by ideas and sentiments that were already widespread in their time – a thousand years after Christ and five hundred years before Christopher Columbus.

From as far back as we know, there was always a fascination with the West, the land of the setting sun. Leif’s explorer father, Erik the Red, was playing on that very fascination when he gave the alluring name of “Greenland” to the largely frozen island we know by that name today. He was appealing to an idea already long embedded in literature, myth, and religion. The idea? That new lands of plenty and wonder and mystery were out there – perhaps even an earthly paradise – waiting to be found, lying somewhere in lands beyond the western horizon.

This message was especially appealing at the dawn of the new millennium, at a time when Europe was still struggling to get back on its feet after the collapse of the Roman Empire. But the message itself was not new. The ancient Greeks had spoken this way, a millennium and a half earlier. They sang of the Isles of the Blessed, where the heroes and gods of their mythology dwelled in a fertile land where there was no winter. They sang of the Elysian Fields, which the poet Homer located on the western edge of the earth, beside the stream of the world’s seas.

Centuries later, at the outset of a modern age of exploration, Sir Thomas More’s book Utopia (1516) described an ideal society located on an island in the West, as did Francis Bacon’s The New Atlantis (1627), whose very title recalled one of the most enduring legends of the West – the strange story of the isle of Atlantis, a fully developed past civilization with kings of great and mighty power that had been swallowed up by the seas and disappeared forever from view.

So the West had already been thought of, in Europe, as a symbol for renewal and discovery, a place of wealth and plenty, a land of hope – an anticipation of what a New World could be like. 

So, since we must begin in the middle of things, we’ll start our history of America in the middle of Europe’s history. In fact, the two histories cannot be understood apart from one another. America is best understood as an offshoot of Europe; even the name “America” comes from the first name of the Italian-born navigator and explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who was among the first to speculate that the lands Columbus discovered were not part of Asia but part of an entirely new landmass.

But America would prove to be an unusual kind of offshoot. It was not like a new branch emerging out of the trunk of a great tree. Nor was it a careful and deliberate transplant, a copy of what had already been established in Europe. Instead, it would draw upon certain parts of Europe, particularly English laws and customs, fragments that had been broken off from the whole and would give those fragments a new home, in a new land where they could develop and flourish in ways that would never have been possible in their native land. But there was nothing systematic about it. So much of it was unpredictable, unplanned, unanticipated. The writer Lewis Mumford memorably expressed this surprising process in a single brilliant sentence: “The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe.”

What did Mumford mean by this? He meant that by the time of Christopher Columbus’s famous voyage in 1492, which was one of the main events in the making of America, Europe was becoming a dramatically different place from what it had been for the three preceding centuries, during the relatively stable and orderly years we now call the High Middle Ages (1000–1300). But by the Late Middle Ages (1300–1500), Europe was entering the modern age. It was no longer stable. Instead, it was becoming a place of widespread change, innovation, and disruption – in technology, in political and social practices, in economics, in religion.

If any one of these innovations or disruptions had come along just by itself, without the company of others – say, if the desire for an expansion of global commerce had not been accompanied by powerful new navigational instruments that made such commerce possible – its effects would have been far less pronounced. But by coming all together at once, these changes gathered strength from one another, so that they contributed to a more general transforming fire, as when many small blazes combine to fuel a large blaze.

This is what happens in all great historical transformations. 

They arise not out of a single cause but out of the coming together of a large number of causes. This unsettling transformation of Europe that was already well under way in 1492 was throwing off flames that would land in other places and set off transformations there as well. The exploration and settlement of America would be one of the most consequential of these. It was, just as Mumford said, the product of a host of great European disruptions: economic, social, religious, technological, and cultural.

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