Diffusion Against Centralization: a Lecture Delivered Before the Rochester Athen?um and Mechanics' Association, on Its Third Anniversary, January 6, 1852

Lewis Henry Morgan

ISBN 10: 0371706033 / ISBN 13: 9780371706039

Published by HardPress, 2021

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Diffusion Against Centralization: a Lecture Delivered Before the Rochester Athen?um and Mechanics' Association, on Its Third Anniversary, January 6, 1852
• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371706033
• ISBN 13: 9780371706039
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

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Synopsis

Diffusion Against Centralization: A Lecture Delivered Before The Rochester Athenĉum And Mechanics' Association, On Its Third Anniversary, January 6, 1852 by Lewis Henry Morgan. This lecture argues that diffusion, not centralization, should govern the development of civil life in a republic. Morgan contends that a true American polity spreads knowledge, respectability, property, trade, and benevolent sentiments among the people, contrasting this diffusion with the centralized power characteristic of monarchies. He presents a framework of primary institutions—such as a Constitutional Republic, the Representative System, the responsibility of representatives, a free elective franchise, taxation by consent, religious toleration, freedom of speech and press, habeas corpus, trial by jury, and universal education—as the foundations for personal liberty. The talk then analyzes specific spheres where diffusion operates: knowledge via public schools and the press; respectability through equality; diffusion of property through inheritance and subdivision; diffusion of trade as a driver of national unity and growth; and benevolent sentiments fostered by education and philanthropy. Morgan finally contrasts Republican diffusion with European centralization and extols the enduring strength of a dispersed, liberty-driven society.