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To: Pelham

You are correct.

However, it is fair to point out that a great many, possibly a majority, of the “radical” 48ers that came to America were no more radical than the American revolutionaries of 1776.

An unfortunate meme has been floating around that the men of 1848 were all pre-commies. They were not. A significant majority were classical liberals opposed to the absolutism of their rulers, a position fully compatible with American values.


270 posted on 05/03/2012 4:27:58 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: Sherman Logan
There is one particular "floater" that is playing "I wish I may, I wish I might" in spreading that meme. If wishes were wagons he'd still be a pedestrian.
271 posted on 05/03/2012 11:37:33 AM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: Sherman Logan

“An unfortunate meme has been floating around that the men of 1848 were all pre-commies. They were not.”

Maybe not pre-commies, but there was a strong leftist streak that persists to this day in the communities they established. The leftism in Wisconsin and environs traces back to the 48ers.

“However, it is fair to point out that a great many, possibly a majority, of the “radical” 48ers that came to America were no more radical than the American revolutionaries of 1776”

Oh, I think there is a very big difference between the two camps. Russell Kirk among others points out that the American Revolution began as conservative enterprise- it was an attempt by the colonials to protect their rights as Englishmen. They didn’t start out seeking to overturn anything, they wanted to preserve their rights, which were being trod upon by Parliament and the King. Only after their repeated requests were rebuffed did they decide upon independence.

The 48ers in contrast were cultural as well as political revolutionaries. Theirs wasn’t a fight for independence, it was a fight to revolutionize society. When they came to the US they came with their ideology intact, and wanted to make the US conform to it.


272 posted on 05/03/2012 9:11:53 PM PDT by Pelham (Marco Rubio, la raza trojan horse.)
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