Benjamin Rush on the Fall of the United States of America

It's fascinating to me that several Founding Fathers made predictions about how and why the United States would fall. I've written articles on George Washington's and James Madison's warnings, and here is another, Benjamin Rush. Interestingly, Washington, Madison, and Rush all basically ended up being correct, eventually.

Benjamin Rush was a medical doctor that signed the American Declaration of Independence, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress for the state of Pennsylvania, a surgeon general in the Continental Army, treasurer of the United States Mint, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and founder of Dickinson College. He even assisted in founding the first black Christian church denomination in the US, and helped restore the friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in their old age. (Rush's preventative medicine was good advice and his writing on the subject was used for a century afterward, his curative medicine wasn't very good but was normal for the time, e.g. bleeding.)

(This is from a speech turned into an article from 1787, 'Thoughts Upon Female Education' by Benjamin Rush, I took this text from the version printed in 'Essays on Education in the Early Republic' edited by Frederick Rudolph.)

As you read this think about if it's true in our society today.

"In the ordinary course of human affairs we shall probably too soon follow the footsteps of the nations of Europe in manners and vices. The first marks we shall perceive of our declension will appear among our women. Their idleness, ignorance, and profligacy will be the harbingers of our ruin. Then will the character and performance of a buffoon on the theater be the subject of more conversation and praise than the patriot or the minister of the gospel; then will our language and pronunciation be enfeebled and corrupted by a flood of French and Italian words; then will the history of romantic amours be preferred to the immortal writings of Addison, Hawkesworth, and Johnson; then will our churches be neglected and the name of the Supreme Being never be called upon but in profane exclamations; then will our Sundays be appropriated only to feasts and concerts; and then will begin all that train of domestic and political calamities.

But, I forbear. The prospect is so painful that I cannot help silently imploring the great Arbiter of human affairs to interpose his almighty goodness and to deliver us from these evils that, at least, one spot of the earth may be reserved as a monument of the effects of good education, in order to show in some degree what our species was before the fall and what it shall be after its restoration."

This is amazing. I think it has taken longer than Rush would have predicted, nonetheless it has come to pass. Now, some things need to be updated. Instead of theaters we have television and social media. Instead of French and Italian we have ghetto slang. Instead of concerts we have sports. With these minor adjustments Rush is spot on. What an impressive prediction.

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