Brooks Adams

Brooks Adams ( * June 24, 1848 in Quincy, Massachusetts, † February 13, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American historian who was best known for his book The Law of Civilization and Decay. He was a member of the famous Adams family

Life

Adams was a great-grandson of John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams, both of whom were President of the United States. His father was a Congressman and diplomat Charles Francis Adams, Sr.. His three older brothers were the politician John Quincy Adams II, Brigadier General Charles Francis Adams, Jr., as well as the historian and philosopher Henry.

After school he studied at Harvard University and graduated in 1870 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA ) from. He then took a year's post-graduate studies in law at the Law School of Harvard University. After that was his father's secretary, than this was 1871-1872 Judge at the Court of Arbitration in Geneva Alabama question. After his return he settled after his lawyer admitted to the bar in Boston.

Later, he was from 1904 to 1911 Lecturer at the Law School of Harvard University.

Publications

As a socially critical set an author, he described his pessimism about the future of the United States. In his books, he foresaw not only the emergence of the two superpowers USA and the Soviet Union, but also the breakdown of civilization through well established laws of nature. He tried to provoke thought, not all scholars saw a sustained reasoning in his part meticulously researched writings. In his writings, he was an advocate of racism and looked at immigrants as corruption of the nation.

His best-known books include:

• The Emancipation of Massachusetts ( 1887)
• The Law of Civilization and Decay ( 1895)
• America's Economic Supremacy (1900)
• The New Empire (1902 )
• The Theory of Social Revolutions ( 1913)
• The degredation of Economic Dogma ( 1920)

Background literature

• Thornton Anderson: Brooks Adams: Constructive Conservative. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. In 1951.
• Arthur F. Beringause: Brooks Adams: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. In 1955.
• Timothy Paul Donovan: Henry Adams and Brooks Adams: The Education of Two American Historians. University of Oklahoma Press. In 1961.
• Abigail Adams Homans: Education By Uncles: Henry, Brooks and Charles Francis Adams as remembered by Their Niece. Houghton Mifflin Co.. 1966.