FILLING IN THE GAPS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 145, 2 April 1942, Page 7

FILLING IN THE GAPS

Winter Course Talks On American History

HAT do you know of American history? A few highlights inevitably obtrude themselves in sur normal study of British and European affairs. You probably know that thanks to George III. and Lord North, and in spite of some speeches by Burke and Chatham, the colonists called the British soldiers "lobsterbacks," tipped large quantities of tea into Boston harbour, melted down the statue of George III. which they had put up in gratitude for the repeal of the Stamp Act, and scandalised all the existing Empires of the world, not so much by rebelling against the Mother Country as by turning rebellion into successful revolution. After that there is generally a hiatus of ignorance stretching darkly to the Civil War. You may know a little of the war of 1812, but did you know that Washington was burned by British troops in retaliation for the burning of Toronto? You may know of the slow trek of covered waggons across the wide continent, of whooping Indians and nuggets of gold, but what of the spread of little ships across the Pacific, culminating in the penetration of Hawaii and Samoa, the acquisition of the Philippines, and the loud knocking at the gates of the sleeping giant, Japan? You will know of the Constitution to which Americans refer with pride, but do you know of the years of labour,

the party strife, and the many obstacles that nearly doomed it to still-birth? If you were asked the occasion for the outbreak of the Civil War would you reply, wrongly, "Slavery"? And did you know that Abraham Lincoln offered General Lee the command of the Northern armies on the strength of his distinguished service in the Mexican War? To-day we may regret our ignorance. The urgent necessity of the last few years has forced us more and more to look not only to the wide-spreading eagle wings of American commerce, but to the wings of fast-flying bombers and fighters, and to American troopships and destroyers and battleships. The ideals, the conflicts, and the economic factors that have given birth to this powerful democracy of the New World are the subject of the new winter course talks to be given by Professor Leslie Lipson from 2YA. Beginning with the early days of colonisation, Professor Lipson carries his subject through to the present day. He has had the opportunity of studying modern America at first hand, as well as of examining the factors that have built the nation of to-day. So listeners should look forward with intesest to the first of this series which will be heard ‘from 2YA on Monday, April 13, at 7.30 p.m. The title is "The Birth of a Nation."