ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to explain American culture in terms of its 'youth', with the inference of a natural retardation in the acceptance of intellectual novelty, is a curious phenomenon which deserves more examination than it has received. The criticism of literature has been a strand in American culture of quite exceptional interest. In a general way it can hardly be said to have had an important and effective place before the Civil War. In this respect the American Civil War was not merely a turning point in the history of the United States. The curse of Midas has been heaped upon the business man in the United States, and he has sought, out of fear, in his turn, to impose its narrowing obligations upon the society he dominates. The chapter tries to show that a broad view of these eighty years makes this part of American culture a part with increasing value for the understanding of American life.
