OPD 29 August
America, Our Illusion
When Europe saw the United States as a model of democracy and an example to follow
When and why did Europe begin to cultivate the myth of America as a teacher of democracy and leader of the West? The answer to this question is particularly pressing today, as wars and the threats of war have resurfaced and Russia has resumed its westward expansion — a trajectory that began in the late 17th and 18th centuries, culminated in the partitions of Poland and resurfaced after World War II.
To answer this question, we must retrace the history of relations between Europe and the United States, two important components of what is commonly called “the West.” We must examine how America was viewed through European eyes and how we Europeans have regarded moments of crisis and authoritarian turns in American history, while underestimating the criticism Americans themselves have directed at their institutions.
The story begins with the great writer, politician and diplomat François-René de Chateaubriand, who traveled to America in 1791 at the age of 22 and later detailed his enchantment with that country’s nature and freedom in four books. Forty years later, his nephew by marriage, Alexis de Tocqueville, crossed the Atlantic at the age of 26 and extolled American equality, democracy and freedom in two books, presenting them as examples to be emulated. In 1888, the English jurist, historian and politician James Bryce was likewise drawn to American institutions, which he studied and described in another now-famous book, although his assessment was more balanced.
These works — followed by others in the same vein — dominated European public opinion for a long time, presenting the United States as the embodiment of freedom and democracy. Yet they underestimated the darker and more troubled aspects of American history, its authoritarian tendencies and the growing criticism of American institutions from within.
They downplayed slavery, which continued until 1865, and isolationism championed by the fifth president, James Monroe (1817-1825). They overlooked what the seventh president, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), did to Native peoples through forced deportations. They minimized the significance of the Civil War of 1861-1865, the number of lives lost and the divisions it created. Later, other observers would overlook the fact that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times, and that McCarthyism, from 1950 to 1954, led to the persecution of people suspected of communist or subversive views. More recently, we have underestimated the rifts caused or deepened within the West by U.S. policy during certain crises, such as the Iraq War. All these negative elements were offset only by America’s intervention in World War I and World War II, postwar reconstruction and the military protection of Europe. Finally, too little attention was paid to the criticisms of America’s more perceptive observers, which grew increasingly sharp over time — such as historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s 1973 critique of the imperial presidency and Robert Putnam’s 2000 critique of the social foundations of democracy.
Literary culture also helped magnify the American myth. Cesare Pavese’s translations of American classics, for example, and Simone de Beauvoir’s account of her travels in America contributed to its appeal. The American writer Henry James, by contrast, saw both the strengths and weaknesses on either side of the Atlantic. In conclusion, for two centuries America was seen either as a glimpse of Europe’s future or as a reflection of European aspirations. We Europeans saw in America what we aspired to become, overlooking many other aspects of American reality that President Donald Trump is helping us discover. We might now identify more with the title of “America Amara” (Bitter America), a 1939 book by the distinguished writer Emilio Cecchi, than with that of another book, “America Primo Amore” (America, First Love), published in 1935 by journalist Mario Soldati.
Now the love affair is over.
*Translator’s note for editor: The English titles in parentheses are my own translations, as neither book has an official English-language translation.
When and why did Europe begin to cultivate the myth of America as a teacher of democracy and leader of the West? The answer to this question is particularly pressing today, as wars and the threats of war have resurfaced and Russia has resumed its westward expansion — a trajectory that began in the late 17th and 18th centuries, culminated in the partitions of Poland and resurfaced after World War II.
To answer this question, we must retrace the history of relations between Europe and the United States, two important components of what is commonly called “the West.” We must examine how America was viewed through European eyes and how we Europeans have regarded moments of crisis and authoritarian turns in American history, while underestimating the criticism Americans themselves have directed at their institutions.
The story begins with the great writer, politician and diplomat François-René de Chateaubriand, who traveled to America in 1791 at the age of 22 and later detailed his enchantment with that country’s nature and freedom in four books. Forty years later, his nephew by marriage, Alexis de Tocqueville, crossed the Atlantic at the age of 26 and extolled American equality, democracy and freedom in two books, presenting them as examples to be emulated. In 1888, the English jurist, historian and politician James Bryce was likewise drawn to American institutions, which he studied and described in another now-famous book, although his assessment was more balanced.
These works — followed by others in the same vein — dominated European public opinion for a long time, presenting the United States as the embodiment of freedom and democracy. Yet they underestimated the darker and more troubled aspects of American history, its authoritarian tendencies and the growing criticism of American institutions from within.
They downplayed slavery, which continued until 1865, and isolationism championed by the fifth president, James Monroe (1817-1825). They overlooked what the seventh president, Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), did to Native peoples through forced deportations. They minimized the significance of the Civil War of 1861-1865, the number of lives lost and the divisions it created. Later, other observers would overlook the fact that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times, and that McCarthyism, from 1950 to 1954, led to the persecution of people suspected of communist or subversive views. More recently, we have underestimated the rifts caused or deepened within the West by U.S. policy during certain crises, such as the Iraq War. All these negative elements were offset only by America’s intervention in World War I and World War II, postwar reconstruction and the military protection of Europe. Finally, too little attention was paid to the criticisms of America’s more perceptive observers, which grew increasingly sharp over time — such as historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s 1973 critique of the imperial presidency and Robert Putnam’s 2000 critique of the social foundations of democracy.
Literary culture also helped magnify the American myth. Cesare Pavese’s translations of American classics, for example, and Simone de Beauvoir’s account of her travels in America contributed to its appeal. The American writer Henry James, by contrast, saw both the strengths and weaknesses on either side of the Atlantic. In conclusion, for two centuries America was seen either as a glimpse of Europe’s future or as a reflection of European aspirations. We Europeans saw in America what we aspired to become, overlooking many other aspects of American reality that President Donald Trump is helping us discover. We might now identify more with the title of “America Amara” (Bitter America), a 1939 book by the distinguished writer Emilio Cecchi, than with that of another book, “America Primo Amore” (America, First Love), published in 1935 by journalist Mario Soldati.
Now the love affair is over.
*Translator’s note for editor: The English titles in parentheses are my own translations, as neither book has an official English-language translation.
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