7. The Battle for Logan's Legacy in McGuffey's Reader Professor Robert G. Parkinson, Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier This section explores the political battle spurred by Logan's Lament. Jefferson used the lament
Season 1, Episode 30, Oct 27, 01:24 AM
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7. The Battle for Logan's Legacy in McGuffey's Reader Professor Robert G. Parkinson, Heart of American Darkness: Bewilderment and Horror on the Early Frontier
This section explores the political battle spurred by Logan's Lament. Jefferson used the lament in Notes on the State of Virginia to argue for American superiority against European claims of degeneracy, elevating Logan while condemning Michael Cresap. This triggered a ferocious counter-crusade by Luther Martin, an attorney married into the Cresap family, who defended the Cresaps as heroes and challenged Jefferson's facts. Nevertheless, the lament found widespread cultural traction. Due to its short, poignant nature, Logan's Lament was memorized by American schoolchildren for decades, notably through the McGuffey Readers, reinforcing the theme of the "vanishing Indian."
This section explores the political battle spurred by Logan's Lament. Jefferson used the lament in Notes on the State of Virginia to argue for American superiority against European claims of degeneracy, elevating Logan while condemning Michael Cresap. This triggered a ferocious counter-crusade by Luther Martin, an attorney married into the Cresap family, who defended the Cresaps as heroes and challenged Jefferson's facts. Nevertheless, the lament found widespread cultural traction. Due to its short, poignant nature, Logan's Lament was memorized by American schoolchildren for decades, notably through the McGuffey Readers, reinforcing the theme of the "vanishing Indian."