Page 45 - spring21
P. 45
TH
STORIES OF HEARTS AND MINDS IN THE 19 CENTURY
4 Liberal statesmen: Lincoln and Cavour
Two things drive modern movements like nationalism, feminism and socialism: firstly,
dignity; and secondly, the belief, derived from Rousseau, that society must adapt to
our inner lives.
But the inner life is one thing; making it all a reality in the outer world is quite
th
another. This session and the next will look at two parallel 19 century nation-
builders, Lincoln and Cavour. I haven’t seen them compared before - perhaps
American and European historians don’t compare notes - but hopefully it will help
illuminate the process. Mazzini helped inspire nationalist feeling in the first half of
th
the 19 century. But what did it take to implement it in the second half?
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810 - 1861) First Prime Minister of Italy (1861)
