Carl Becker - The Historiography Page - Readings & Resources - R.A. Hatch

Becker, Carl Lotus (1873 - 1945) - Carl Becker was a Midwesterner, born in Iowa near Waterloo in Blackhawk County. He later attended nearby Cornell College, a small liberal arts college, and later moved to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Known for its strength in history, Madison was the home of the well-known US historian, Frederick Jackson Turner, famous for the 'Turner Thesis' or the 'Frontier Hypothesis'. In the course of his life Becker taught Dartmouth (1901–2), Kansas (1902–1916), and Cornell (1917–41). He appears to have accepted little of Turner's view of history and historical writing, as Turner consistently maintained that historians in effect raise questions, facts count for little, and that the ongoing dialogue and past and present gave rise to ever new interpretations that simply reflected contemporary concerns and needs. Becker's views were different, best outlined in his classic statement (see below) that "every man was his own historian". Becker is often categorized as a progressive historian. He delivered his key views in an address to the AHA on 29 December 1931. By tradition, it marks the death blow to the progressive school and the emergence of historical relativism. For this reason, if no other, Carl Becker defines a critical junction in historical writing. His writing is remembered for its lucidity, force, and grace, his interpretations were well argued and stunning in their originality.

Importantly, Becker wrote a variety of works in history, on topics in American and European history. He left his mark on both. His two major books were in US and in European history, The Declaration of Independence (1922; 1942) and The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers (1932).

Becker's doctoral dissertation, "The History of Political Parties in the Province of New York" (1909) established a view about US Colonial history that emerged as all-but canonical. In brief, Becker argued that given the sharp social division in colonial society the elite and lower classes, the American Revolution was less a war for independence as it marked a domestic war for equality. The so-called Becker Thesis was local in it argument, aimed at New York state, but its effect was taken to represent other colonies as well. If Becker's work in US history had a broad appeal, his most noted work in European history was destined to become a controversial classic, notably his The Heavenly City (1932). Here again Becker argued against tradition, now asserting that Enlightenment philosophe were not so modern as other historians assumed, that in effect, while they may have challenged traditional religious dogma they in fact simply replace one kind of religion for another, namely, zealous belief in Reason. Becker's students eventually wrote a number of articles, a number of which appeared as a book, discussing Becker's views on reason, relativism, and the historical craft.

Becker's importance as an historian reflects his broad interest in both US and European history as well as his creative if not iconoclastic interpretations. His publications cover both geographical areas, though near the end of his career, when the "Becker School" emerged, he taught European history at Cornell. He was a friend and associate of the noted historian, Charles Beard, and served as President of American Historical Association (1930). As a 'man of letters' Becker repeated claimed he was interested in thinking about history rather than being an historian -- his interest in historiography was genuine and consistent.

Cornell has Becker's letters and papers; for published information, see his letters (ed. by Michael Kammen, 1974), and the biography of C.W. Smith (1956; 1973) and also by B.T. Wilkins (1961; 1967). For background, see Cushing Strout, The Pragmatic Revolt in American History (1958; 1966), and articles listed below.

RAH