The nearest that the American culture came to perfection was in the years immediately after the American Revolution, and continuing until the mid-1850's.

Then the pervasive evil of slavery hit the burgeoning country and by 1861 had split the nation.

The horrible and divisive war put the culture at its lowest level since the deaths and disappearance of the founding fathers. America had a series of bad presidents after the assassination of Lincoln, itself the low point in culture.

Slowly, the entire country regained its equilibrium.
The central government began to look outside the geographic confines of the United States and to think colonial. It engendered a war with Spain over an incident which never happened, the sinking of the battleship MAINE, actually caused by a seaman smoking in a gun-turret.

Two more assassinations! Cleveland and McKinley!

Again, the low level perked up a bit under the spectacular guidance of a publicity-conscious President, Theodore Roosevelt.
BANG! Another set-back! Under Woodrow Wilson, a visionary, mentally ill in the last part of his regime, we entered a massive European war, and set a pattern for global intervention.
Though our participation and losses were minimal in that war, it had enormous psychologic impetus upon the public and established a kind of national military subculture.

A series of weak and downright evil presidencies led the country to its greatest depth since defeating the British in 1781...the GREAT DEPRESSION.

Slowly recovering under the watchful and benign eye of a new very liberal and uptrending government under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the country again peaked in unity in the great war called World War II, which effectively calmed and made whole Europe while offering employment to the shreds of the aftermath of the Depression.

Again, post-war euphoria!

For twenty years, and through the regime of Dwight David Eisenhower, the country survived and fought a battle of fear against something called Communism, but which under other names had always existed, even in the England conquered in the Revolution.

An apathetic atmosphere engulfed the world after the dissipation of the major threats, mostly nuclear, from Russia and China.

The United States entered its present lowest cultural level since becoming a free country 200 years ago.

Extraordinary family changes had taken place.

The patriarchal and matriarchal families gave way to divorced

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