tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post3992388932684794223..comments2024-03-28T10:44:30.518-06:00Comments on American Creation: Were Most Early American City Dwellers Corrupt and Depraved?Brad Harthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17669677047039491864noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-46211840040065327952010-11-08T21:09:27.472-07:002010-11-08T21:09:27.472-07:00Is "corruption" limited to moral corrupt...Is "corruption" limited to moral corruption or does it also include bribery and financial misconduct. If it is limited to (or primarily) "moral corruption", then it is not inconsistent with a mercantilist society.<br /><br />Ours was a Whiggish revolution, so it should be no suprise that many of its leaders disapproved of the more open attitudes of sailors and traders and other urban folk. I do have to wonder, though, whether Franklin wrote of being scandalized by London primarily because such scandal helps sell the wares of a printer.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12165084874363214919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1237087217187172116.post-9864801645915692262010-11-08T15:22:55.852-07:002010-11-08T15:22:55.852-07:00From the pamphlets leading up to the revolution, t...From the pamphlets leading up to the revolution, the writers describe Europe as corrupted. I remember Franklin, in his autobiography, describing London as shockingly corrupt, when he was sent to learn the printing trade as a young man. <br /><br />Our nation was 95% farmers, if I remember correctly. There was a bias against city life coupled with an idealization of the agricultural ethos. The cities were larger and more numerous in Europe. If corruption is greatest in the cities, it would follow that it was greatest elsewhere. This writer thesis is suspect since the kind of corruption he describes was greater there but the revolution occurred here. <br /><br />By the way, given that one of the 18th century virtues was <i>industry</i>, how could the colonists afford to be corrupt? No one was going to bail them out.Jason Pappashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18233796281520274898noreply@blogger.com