Civilization in the United States

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) was an English poet, writer and cultural critic. He has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He was also an inspector of schools for thirty-five years, and supported the concept of state-regulated secondary education.

In 1883 and 1884, Arnold toured the United States and Canada delivering lectures on education, democracy and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883. In 1886, he retired from school inspection and made another trip to America.

The Arnold’s essay Civilization in the United States, which we propose to our readers today, was published in 1888 in the Nineteenth Century magazine. It is the account of Arnold's tour of the United States of America in 1886. A scathing critique of American society and civilization, seen through the eyes of a British intellectual who knew America and its culture well.