SUPPLEMENTAL PRIMARY DOCUMENTS

for

Prof. Anderson’s His102 Issues in Western Civilization Course

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1. Ellul, from Perspectives on Our Age (1981).

FIND LINK ON SYLLABUS PAGE, RIGHT HAND COLUMN

Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) was a French sociologist and Reformed lay theologian, most famous for his insights on technology.

2. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

This is the first official statement of the French Revolution.

3. La Marseillaise (1792)

4. Smith, from The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish clergyman and philosopher who became most famous for his argument for laissez-faire economics.

5. Wordsworth, from Tintern Abbey

William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English, was one of the leading poets of the Romantic movement.

6. Pius X, Oath Against Modernism (1910)

This oath reflects official Roman Catholic concerns about political and intellectual changes going back to at least the French Revolution.

7. Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (1891)

This papal encyclical reflects concerns about industrializing European society. It is still the basis for contemporary Catholic social justice theologizing and activity.

8. Kierkegaard, from Attack Upon "Christendom" (1854-1855)

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was a Danish Lutheran philosopher famous for his writing about existence, the self, and religious faith. He was a Romantic and arguably the first "existentialist."

9. Equiano, Interesting Narrative, Chap. II (1789)

Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), named Gustavus Vassa by one of his masters, was probably born in what is now Nigeria. Enslaved, he spent much of his young adult life on the sea (in British navy and merchant ships). Eventually he earned enough money to purchase his freedom. Later, he became important in the British abolitionist movement, working with evangelicals such as William Wilberforce. His Narrative made him famous. This chapter recounts his enslavement.

10. Equiano, Interesting Narrative, Chap. X (1789)

This chapter of the Narrative recounts his conversion to Christianity.

11. Christoph Blumhardt, Sermons (1880s-1890s)

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See the introductory pages of this selection for historical background on Christoph and his son Johann Christoph.

12. Darwin in the Galapagos Islands (1835)

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See the introductory paragraphs of these excerpts for historical background on Charles Darwin.

13. Smiles, from Self-Help (1882)

Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was a Scottish Protestant and liberal who, although he studied medicine, became most famous for his writing about "self-help." Robert Roberts on p. 30 of his The Classic Slum notes his influence.

14. Orwell, "Down the Mine" (1937)

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George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair (1903-1950), an English writer. Blair at first followed his father, a civil servant in India, by joining the colonial police in Burma in the 1920s. Soon he returned to Europe and took up writing full time. He became known especially for his life among the poor, his time fighting Fascists in Spain, and his novels Animal Farm and 1984.

15. Orwell, "Shooting an Elephant" (1936)

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16. McWilliams, Carey, “The Discovery of Los Angeles” (1978)

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Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) was an American lawyer-turned-journalist. His reputation as an incisive social critic and lay historian was first made in California. Later, he edited The Nation.

17. McWilliams, Carey, “Don’t Shoot Los Angeles” (1946)

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18. Late 20th Century Los Angeles, Various documents (1965-1995)

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See the introductory paragraphs accompanying the excerpts for historical background.

19. Ellul, from What I Believe (1989)