Lyman Beecher’s Nativist History

Abstract

Believes that in A Plea for the West Beecher assumes a version of history typical among antebellum intellectuals, asserting that only divine intervention can save the chosen nation from disasters that have befallen ascendant nations of the past; for Beecher the conflict between “native” Americans and Catholic immigrants may destroy America and continue the historical pattern, or it may destroy what Beecher regards as America’s enemies and redeem humanity from the repetitive conflicts of the past.