Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

Tiger, Tiger,BurningBright 227

IfJeffersonianismisthebookideologyoftheUnitedStates,Jackson-
ianpopulism is itsfolk ideology. HistoricallyAmericanpopulism is
basedlessontheideasoftheEnlightenmentthanonthecommunityval-
uesandsenseofidentityamongtheBritishcolonizerswhosettledthis
countrybeforetheRevolution.Inparticular,asonelearnsfromthework
ofhistorianDavidHackettFischer,whatwearecallingJacksonianpopu-
lismcanoriginallybeidentifiedwitha subgroupamongthesesettlers,
theso-calledScotch-Irishwhosettledthebackcountryregionsofthe
CarolinasandVirginiaand whowentontosettle muchoftheOld
West-whichwouldbecomeWestVirginia,Kentucky,partsofIndiana
andIllinois-andthesouthandsouthcentralstatesofTennessee,Mis-
souri,Alabama,Mississippi,andTexas.Jacksonianpopulismtodayhas
movedbeyonditsoriginalethnicandgeographicallimits.Likecou'ntry
music,anotherproductofJacksonianculture,Jacksonianpoliticsand
folkfeelinghavebecomea basicelementinAmericanconsciousnessthat
canbefoundfromoneendofthecountrytotheother.
TheScotch-Irishwerea hardyandwarlikepeople,withacultuteand
outlookformedbycenturiesofbitterwarfarebeforetheycametothe
United States. Fischer shows how, trapped on the frontier between
EnglandandScotland,orplantedasProtestantcoloniesinthehostile
soil ofIreland,thisculturewas shapedthroughcenturiesofconstant
bloodywar.TheAmericanRevolution,theWarof 18 12,andgenerations
ofsavagefrontierconflictintheUnitedStatesreproducedthesecondi-
tionsintheNewWorld.TheCivilWar,foughtwithparticularferocity
intheborderstates,renewedtheculturalheritageofwar.Sincethattime
eachAmericangenerationhas beenbaptizedbyfire-intheSpanish-
AmericanWar,thetwoworldwars,inKorea,Indochina,andthePersian
Gulf,newgenerationsofAmericanJacksoniansralliedtothecolors.

TheGreatAssimilation

AlthoughtheroleofwhatwearecallingJ acksoniansinthenineteenth-
centuryUnitedStatesisclear,manytwentieth-centuryobserversmade
what once seemed a reasonable assumption that Jacksonian values
andpoliticsweredyingout.Theseobserverswerebothsurprisedand
discomfitedwhenRonaldReagan'spoliticalsuccessshowedthatJackso-
nianismhaddonemorethansurvive;itwas,andis,thriving.
What has happened is thatJacksonian culture,values, andself-