The land of threats. America in the 2nd half of the 19th century – through Hungarian eyes Cover Image

Fenyegetések földje. Amerika a 19. század második felében – magyar szemmel
The land of threats. America in the 2nd half of the 19th century – through Hungarian eyes

Author(s): András Vári
Subject(s): History
Published by: KORALL Társadalomtörténeti Egyesület

Summary/Abstract: In the first half of the 19th century, the US was an enormously fascinating andattractive land for Hungarians to travel in and to report on. TheHungarian liberalBoloni Farkas travelled and wrote on America at the same time as Tocqueville,with resounding success. Th is paper picks up the story of the changing image ofAmerica after the 1849 defeat of the revolution in Central-Europe. It is a storyof consecutive deterioration of the shining image of America. Thetravellers wereof very diff erent social background, from aristocratic landowner to professionaljournalist, from university lecturer of chemistry to a clerk of the Ministry for Agriculture,Industry and Trade. Thedeepening aversion to America can be linked toa generally sceptical outlook towards the development of capitalism and liberalpolitical democracy. Interestingly, however, it does not stop there. From the first to the last of the travellers there are a number of criticisms, which refl ect profounddiff erences in the way an appropriate, humane, dignified life of the community ispictured by the visitors as opposed to what they see in the US.

  • Issue Year: 2006
  • Issue No: 26
  • Page Range: 153-184
  • Page Count: 32
  • Language: Hungarian
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