Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America, 1776-1900 [Paperback]

John F. Kasson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 1999

A major theme of American history has always been the desire to achieve a genuinely republican way of life that values liberty, order, and virtue. In Civilizing the Machine, John F. Kasson asks how new technologies have affected this drive for a republican civilization-and the question is as vital now as ever. Civilizing the Machine was an innovative and compelling work when it first appeared two decades ago: Kasson's analysis of the technical developments in transportation, communication, and manufacture from the Revolution to the of the nineteenth century showed how technologies were dealt with in sources as diverse as the debates of Hamilton and Jefferson; the factories of Lowell, Massachusetts; the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson; the prints of Currier & Ives; and the utopian and dystopian novels of Howells and Twain. His profound, wide-ranging inquiry into this central issue in American history is now available again with a new Introduction by the author.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A tour de force when it first appeared nearly twenty-five years ago, John Kasson's Civilizing the Machine has become a classic, and it remains required reading for anyone interested in the larger implications of the industrial revolution in America. A brilliant, pathbreaking work."--Merrit Roe Smith, Massachusettes Institute of Technology

"A first-rate contribution to our understanding of one of the deepest, most troubling issues in American life: Is the machine our servant or our master?"--Alan Trachtenberg, Yale University

"This admirably balanced and judicious book is invaluable for understanding the initial phase of America's love/hate relationship with industrial technology."--Leo Marx, Massachusettes Institute of Technology

"A brillant and original achievement."--Lewis Mumford

"A provocative and important book. In an America brimming once again with technological enthusiasm and with new questions about republican values, it seems especially appropiate to consider the ways which technological dreams and American society have interacted throughout American history. More than any other book, Civilizing the Machine shows how these issues shaped American thought and culture."--Steven Lubar, National Museum of American History

"A brilliant work of cultural history and criticism, now a classic."--Thomas Bender

"A refreshing and compelling examination."--Neil Harris, The New Republic

About the Author

John F. Kasson, who teaches history and American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the author of Houdini, Tarzan and the Perfect Man, Amusing the Million, Rudeness and Civility, and Civilizing the Machine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hill and Wang (May 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809016206
• ISBN-13: 978-0809016204
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rather civilized and learned approach..., July 26, 2000

By 

Terry Bennett - See all my reviews

This review is from: Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America, 1776-1900 (Paperback)

In "Civilizing the Machine", Kasson presents a very fair and even set of accounts which chronicles the advent of the American industrial and technological communities. While this is not your standard economics or history book, Kasson sets the tone for the burgeoning young nation's entrance onto the world trade stage. His insights over the "hidden agenda" of many early national leaders are quite fascinating; in this regard, he slyly points out that many of our forefathers who were so deftly incline to advocate liberties and freedom for the masses were also deeply concerned over the relatively slight amount of intelligence among the working classes. The book is not without its faults. The decision to not include any narratives about the economic and industrial effects from the Civil War was a troubling omission for this reader. Kassan's treatment of America's infantile arts and education communities might lose some readers. His goal, which takes a while to digest, is to point out that most of the early arts docents from the industrial powerhouses were simply trying to encourage the common workers to realize that their contributions to the "American machine" were actually assisting in the development of a sense of American culture. In that this book takes the reader down the venues of early Revolutionary War era factories, controversial immigration policies in the last half of the nineteenth century, and the mindset behind the first free, public American schools, it is a highly recommended work for fans of history, education in American and the Industrial Revolution.

3.0 out of 5 stars Chapter Two: Fantastic, Other Chapters: Less Fantastic, November 11, 2003

By 

S. Pactor "reader" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America, 1776-1900 (Paperback)

I read this book after Amazon suggested it to me, and because it could be had for cheap. Amazon suggested I might like this book because I had recently purchased Leo Marx's "The Machine in the Garden" and Henry Nash Smith's "Virgin Land". I had to read no further then the author's preface to see reference to those two authors, and the book often cited to their work in those two books.

Undoubtably, Chapter Two, called "The Factory as Republican Community" is a must-read. Using Goffman's concept of the "Total Insitituion", Kasson uses primary and secondary source material to discuss how the establishment of the Lowell-model factories in New England represented the culmination of a certain kind of american ideology. Kasson situates the discussion in terms of American reaction to English factory life (see Dickens, Hard Times) and how American factory owners wanted their factories to be "different".

For me, the most illuminating part of this book came when Kasson explained how the reaction to English factory life was primarily shock and horror at the lack of social control exercised by the British over their factory workers. The Lowell owners were just as concerned with the social control of their workers as they were with making economic profit (Kasson points out that their was a substantial issue as to whether the factories would, in fact, be profitable). For me, the point was to illustrate the profoundly undemocratic roots of American Republicanism. Although Kasson is far from an ideologue, I can see why this chapter is often required reading in college history courses.

As for the rest of the book. Meh. Chapter one sets up the background for Chapter two, so you have to read that. I thought his chapter on Emerson ("Technology and Imaginative Freedom") was a bit derivative of his influences. His chapter on "The Aesthetics of Machinery" is mildly interesting (Did you know that Americans used to paint their machines with flowers?). His final chapter on "Technology and Utopia" is, in my opinion, the weakest, although I was engaged by his exegesis of Twain's "A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court".

I'd recommend this book for students of early america history, american studies types and people interested in the the subject of social control.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, June 19, 2001

By 

Amy E. Comer "aec20" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civilizing the Machine: Technology and Republican Values in America, 1776-1900 (Paperback)

We used this book as one of our texts in a history of technology course. I thought that Kasson did an excellent job covering such a large amount of material in a relatively short book.

Though it was a little dry (I would never have picked it up on my own) I thought it served as an excellent piece on early American history from a tachnological perspective.