Ronald Takakis Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America Es

Ronald Takakis Iron Cages washout and civilization in 19th-Century AmericaAfter America declared its independence from British rule, the founding fathers faced a conundrum How to build and maintain a successful republican government that was ultimately dependent upon the passions and character of its people. Their termination was to propose the construction of what historians have called iron cages, which were ideological devices intended to discourage the corruption and folly that might consume a free people, and kind of promoterational and virtuous American citizens. Ronald Takaki expands upon this concept in his historical analysis, Iron Cages Race and Culture in 19th-Century America, explaining that these constructs functioned specifically to separate the discolour man from blacks and domestic Americans, who were believed to be devoid of the civility required to build a egalitarian nation. As patriot leaders attempted to resolve the exclusiveness of American identity to A nglo-Saxon peoples, rhetoric and reality merged to form political orientation In a land where all men are created equal, fly the coop was constructed as a justification for why all men would non be treated equal. Takakis book illustrates how literature came to play a snappy role in the creation and reification of these racial ideologies. He states that, What white men in index number scene and did mightily affected what everyone thought and did. Americans viewed the founding fathers as interpreters of both law and society. These same men, whom Takakinames agri socialisation makers, not only shouldered the task of explaining society, but were also instrumental in its conception. Takaki explainsthat their ideas were disseminated, and American mores were subsequently shaped through writing. Hi... ... finds America imprison behind a fourth iron cage, that which acts as an amalgamation of the republican, the bodied and the demonic. He explains that, Like the republicans of the American Revolution, we continue to insist on our adept of and capacity for being self-governing individuals. But we find ourselves again down the stairs the rule of a king - an authority exterior to the self. This time, however, we cannot as slowly identify the king and declare our independence. Despitethe prejudice, hate and violence that have the appearance _or_ semblance to be so deeply entrenched in Americas multiracial culture and history of imperialism, Takaki does offer us hope. Just as literature has the power to construct racial systems, so it also has the power to refute and elapse them The pen is in our hands.Works ConsultedTakaki, Ronald. Iron Cages Race and Culture in 19th-Century America