DIVERSITY IS THE KEY TO DEMOCRACY

 

The historical linkages between the various English peoples that founded America and our present political and cultural conflicts have always fascinated me. It is naïve to believe that modern hostilities result solely from Donald Trump, social media, and/or radical cancel culture views on racism and women’s rights.

Many of the issues we argue about each day are spawned by our history.  In fact, a trail of tribal breadcrumbs goes back 300 years when America was in its infancy.  Understanding our initial colonization can help us to comprehend modern America.

The premise discussed in this commentary is hardly original. Credit must be given to the classic historical work by David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, 1989, Oxford University Press. In addition, a recent Joe Klein essay, Why the Past is Never Past that appeared in the Sunday October 17, 2021 NYT, revived my interest in Fisher’s important study. For those readers who are not familiar with these sources, I will summarize and comment.

The Joe Klein essay has its eye on the map of our nation during the pandemic when he observes “the daily graphs of COVID-19 cases and vaccinations-the diagonal slash through Appalachia and the South from the Ozarks and Texas, where cases soared; to the high vaccination rates in New England, make it clear that the divide between maskers and anti-maskers, vaxxers and anti-vaxxers is as old as Plymouth Rock. It is deeper than politics, it is cultural.”

To get to this conclusion, we must return to Albion’s Seed which tackles the question: Why do certain regions in America have different cultural characteristics? Fischer identifies four original folkways that were radically different, each contributing an essential strain in shaping modern America.

New England.  First, the great migration of English Puritans, middle class Englishmen ruled by an elite of Puritan ministers, populated New England in the 1630s. Relative homogeneity, stable families and a balanced gender ratio marked this conservative folkway. It sought strict piety by instituting harsh institutional control and regulation over all manner of domestic living.

Tidewater Virginia.  Second, Royalist Cavaliers, pro-crown and Anglican, came from the elites of Southwest England. They were actively recruited to lord over large Virginia estates where 75% of the population were in the first place indentured servants and later African slaves. Society was hierarchical.  Liberty included the right to rule over others and the freedom to be unequal.

Delaware Valley.  Third, Quakers from Northern England counties settled the land surrounding Philadelphia.  The Quaker culture valued commerce, industry and a pluralistic society of equality over Puritan unity or Cavalier hierarchy.  The acceptance of different views encouraged political parties. Religious liberty, non-violence and antislavery prevailed in the Quaker folkway.

The Southern Backcountry.  Last, a large impoverished group of immigrants from England’s Northern borderlands and Southern Scotland sought refuge in the hills along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. The folkways they brought with them were structured around a culture of retaliation and retribution. Politics were marked by independent “men of influence” like the future Andrew Jackson. The Appalachian conception of freedom stressed personal autonomy and distrust for governmental authority.

When one considers the New England ethic to “follow the rules” and its contrast with the Appalachian culture of “there are no rules,” it is no small miracle that we have made it this far as a nation.  Moreover, after reading the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (who is now running for Congress as a Trump supporter), it is clear that these folkway differences are alive and well. Puritan organization predicted the New Deal and “freedom from want.” The Scots Irish wanted no part of this bargain if it meant curtailing individual liberties.

Likewise, the call for social and economic equality espoused by the Quakers was never accepted in the South.  Instead, the Southern folkway that championed an aristocratic hierarchy would lead to white supremacy and systemic racism following the Civil War.

I would add a fifth and sixth folkway to the four developed in Albion’s Seed that help explain why we have not experienced continuous civil war. The fifth would be the emancipation and citizenship afforded to Africans brought to America against their will. The sixth and last is the immigration of citizens from Southern Europe and later from ethnic groups from around the world.

Once America became more diverse, the fractious folkways of the original British migration had less influence. Each original folkway was more concerned with protecting its ancestral turf than establishing control over the country as a whole. The continuing diversity of culture and new ideas made our constitutional republic stronger over time.  

In support of my observation, I would point to those countries that have  remained ethnically homogeneous. Germany and Japan before WWII, Russia and China since the war are examples of nations with little cultural diversity. Each of them fostered authoritarian regimes based on ethnic supremacy with total control over their populations.

When I read the latest issue of Pittsburgh Magazine and reviewed the 2021 award winning class of “40 under 40,” the accomplishments and diversity of the candidates was impressive. Among these young adults are several from small villages in India, Pakistan, Africa and the Far East. Each is making a difference with their unique creativity.

As long as new folkways continue to be introduced into the American landscape, our democracy will remain a gloriously messy business but it will thrive.