Academics and the 4th

C18-L, an academic e-mailing list which deals with the eighteenth century in an interdisciplinary fashion has been the site of some very particular kinds of 4th of July messages. Using their search page and the keyword "American", one can get a sense of what at least some academics think of America. Contributions begin with Frederick Douglas', "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?" Continues to a Johnson quote, "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes." And then from Johnson's Life of Milton, "It has been observed that they who most loudly clamour for liberty do not most liberally grant it." Finally a swipe at Athenian democracy. One listmember did offer this, "Better a flawed liberty than none at all." So one can conclude that the cause of liberty is not entirely foriegn to academics who claim a special interest in the eighteenth century.

These people presume to "teach" young men and women.