DOCUMENT 24

JIMMY CARTER, “CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE” ADDRESS,

JULY 15, 1979

In 1973 a sudden shortage of gasoline, unknown before in

American history, announced the beginning of an energy crisis.
Yet over the next six years, despite a ten-fold increase in the price
of oil, consumption continued to rise. In the spring of 1979 the
gas lines reappeared, this time accompanied by panic and
hoarding and sometimes by violence. Earlier, on April 18, 1977,
President Carter had addressed the nation in a dramatic speech,
calling the e ort to solve the energy problem “the moral
equivalent of war.” Subsequently, he tried again and again to
convey to Americans his sense of urgency. Now once more he
scheduled an energy speech for July 4, 1979. That morning,
however, he abruptly canceled it. For the next ten days he
summoned politicians, public gures, journalists, energy experts
in turn to confer with him at Camp David. On July 15 he
returned to Washington to give the promised address, He began
by explaining why he had postponed it, and recounted the
opinions he had heard in the interval. Then he announced the
conclusion he had come to: this was not a gas crisis, but a crisis of
con dence. This second portion of his speech, and the nal part
announcing new plans for meeting the energy crisis, appear
below.

Ten days ago I had planned to speak to you again about a very
important subject—energy. For the fth time I would have
described the urgency of the problem and laid out a series of
legislative recommendations to the Congress. But as I was preparing
to speak, I began to ask myself the same question that I now know
has been troubling many of you. Why have we not been able to get
together as a Nation to resolve our serious energy problem?
It is clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper—
deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than
in ation or recession. And I realize more than ever that as President
I need your help.…
All the legislation in the world can’t x what is wrong with
America. So I want to speak to you rst tonight about a subject
even more serious than energy or in ation. I want to talk to you
right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy.…
The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of
con dence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and
spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing
doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity
of purpose for our Nation.
The erosion of our con dence in the future is threatening to
destroy the social and the political fabric of America.
The con dence that we have always had as a people is not simply
some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just
on the 4th of July. It is the idea we founded our Nation on and it
has guided our development as a people. Con dence in the future
has supported everything else—public institutions and private
enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the
United States.
Con dence has de ned our course and has served as a link
between generations. We have always believed in something called
progress. We have always had a faith that the days of our children
would be better than our own.
Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself,
but in their ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and
shapers of our democracy. As a people we know our past and we
are proud of it. Our progress has been part of the living history of
America, even the world. We always believed that we were part of
a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in
the search for freedom, and that belief has always strengthened us
in our purpose. But just as we are losing our con dence in the
future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past.
In a Nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-
knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to
worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no
longer de ned by what one does, but by what one owns.…
The symptoms of this crisis of the American spirit are all around
us. For the rst time in the history of our country the majority of
our people believe that the next ve years will be worse than the
past ve years.…
This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the
truth and it is a warning. These changes did not happen overnight.
They have come upon us gradually over the last generation, years
that were lled with shocks and tragedy.
We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet,
until the murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin
Luther King, Jr. We were taught that our armies were always
invincible and our causes were always just, only to su er the agony
of Vietnam.
We respected the Presidency as a place of honor until the shock of
Watergate.
We remember when the phrase “sound as a dollar” was an
expression of absolute dependability, until ten years of in ation
began to shrink our dollars and our savings.
We believed that our Nation’s resources were limitless until 1973
when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil.
These wounds are still very deep. They have never been healed.
Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the
Federal Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of
our Nation’s life. Washington, D.C., has become an island. The gap
between our citizens and our government has never been so wide.…
What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the
country is a system of government that seems incapable of action.
You see a Congress twisted and pulled in every direction by
hundreds of well- nanced and powerful special interests.
 You see every extreme position defended to the last vote, almost
to the last breath by one unyielding group or another.…
Often you see paralysis and stagnation and drift. You don’t like it,
and neither do I. What can we do?
First of all, we must face the truth and then we can change our
course. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability
to govern ourselves and faith in the future of this Nation.
Restoring that faith and that con dence to America is now the
most important task we face.…
We ourselves are the same Americans who just ten years ago put
a man on the moon. We are the generation that dedicated our
society to the pursuit of human rights and equality. And we are the
generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that
process rebuild the unity and con dence of America.
We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to
choose. One is a path I warned about tonight, the path that leads to
fragmentation and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea
of freedom, the right to grasp for ourselves some advantage over
others. That path would be one of constant con ict between narrow
interests ending in chaos and immobility. It is a certain route to
failure.
All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all
the promises of our future point to another path, the path of
common purpose and the restoration of American values. That path
leads to true freedom for our Nation and ourselves. We can take the
rst steps down that path as we begin to solve our energy problem.
Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation
and it can also be the standard around which we rally.
In little more than two decades we have gone from a position of
energy independence to one in which almost half the oil we use
comes from foreign countries, at prices that are going through the
roof. Our excessive dependence on OPEC [Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries] has already taken a tremendous toll
on our economy and our people.
This is the direct cause of the long lines which have made millions
of you spend aggravating hours waiting for gasoline. It is a cause of
the increased in ation and unemployment that we now face. This
intolerable dependence on foreign oil threatens our economic
independence and the very security of our Nation.
Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy
of the United States. Beginning this moment, this Nation will never
use more foreign oil than we did in 1977—never. From now on,
every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our
own production and our own conservation.…
Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my
Presidential authority to set import quotas. I am announcing tonight
that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of
one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow.…
Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most
massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our
nation’s history to develop America’s own alternative sources of fuel
—from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from
unconventional gas, from the sun.…
Point four: I am asking Congress to mandate, to require as a
matter of law, that our Nation’s utility companies cut their massive
use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other
fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source.
Point ve: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the
way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an
Energy Mobilization Board which, like the War Production Board in
World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut
through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to
completing key energy projects.
We will protect our environment. But when this Nation critically
needs a re nery or a pipeline, we will build it.
Point six: I am proposing a bold conservation program to involve
every state, county and city and every average American in our
energy battle. This e ort will permit you to build conservation into
your home and your lives at a cost you can a ord.
I ask Congress to give me authority for mandatory conservation
and for standby gasoline rationing. To further conserve energy, I
am proposing tonight an extra $10 billion over the next decade to
strengthen our public transportation systems, and I am asking you
for your good and for your Nation’s security to take no unnecessary
trips, to use car pools or public transportation whenever you can, to
park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit and
to set your thermostats to save fuel.…
Every gallon of oil each one of us saves is a new form of
production. It gives us more freedom, more con dence, that much
more control over our own lives.
So the solution of our energy crisis can also help us to conquer
the crisis of the spirit in our country. It can rekindle our sense of
unity, our con dence in the future, and give our nation and all of us
individually a new sense of purpose.
 CHAPTER 2 OUTLINE

Section 1

Grandin presents the border of the United States as something exceptional in its expansion; to
prove this point, he compares it to the borders of Spanish America.
Contrasting to the US, the countries of South America respect “old colonial boundaries” and,
in theory, do not desire to acquire the land of one another, as there is no free land left to claim.
By using the old doctrine of uti possidetis (“as you possess,” used previously in the Roman
Empire to justify conquest) and reshaping it as a “theory of peace,” Spanish American
republicans desire to restrict conflict between the republics and protect themselves from
Europe’s reach.
The American version of uti possidetis works only in theory in Spanish America (as wars over
territory still break out), but is applied in practice beyond Americas—the doctrine of self-
containment serves as a foundation to the United Nations and is used in Africa to maintain the
borders of the independent nations in the process of decolonization.
The border of the United States differs from the Spanish American ones on the premise that
the former is surrounded by land owned by no one and, therefore, is justified in claiming it.

Section 2

Border disputes are identified to be the greatest threat to peace—not only is such conflict
existent between nations, but also states.
Each state is compared to a separate colonial power in regard to western land—to contain
them and avoid war, a “strong controlling authority” is needed.
With their Constitution, the founding fathers find a solution—the states agree to cede their
claims to the western land to the government, which now administers them as “territories.” In
return, federal authorities have the power to transform these territories into states, “equal in
standing to the original thirteen.”
The United States sees itself as having no limit to its opportunities and expansion—a similar
view spreads in Spanish America, with Simon Bolivar regarding the New World as the “heart
of the universe;” however, he does not view territorial expansion as a means of advancement
(he argues in favor of the doctrine of self-containment).

Section 3

In face of several dangers at the time, national security is advocated as the main reason for the
Louisiana Purchase; however, with the territory’s enormous size, it conveys a “sense of
immeasurability” and motivates further expansion.
 The opponents of Louisiana Purchase argue that the Constitution does not allow purchase as a
means of acquiring territory—they are dismissed with the argument that the Constitution does
not set any particular boundaries concerning the expansion. Moreover, the deal is defined as a
treaty, not a purchase, thus being constitutional.
The protection on the west granted by the lands of Louisiana is compared to the security given
from the ocean on the east.
Jefferson’s purchase is regarded as “utopian,” as such security and liberty are equated with
bliss.
Louisiana’s being a guarantee for peace exists only in theory, since the expansion is
continuing, causing more conflict and wars.

Section 4

The American Revolution is regarded as an “enormous act of will,” in contrast to westward

expansion, where the United States’ subjugation of Native Americans is viewed by Jefferson
to be accomplished by “forces out of its control.”
The American sovereignty was carried out not only in the east by diplomats defending the
legitimacy of their nation, but also in the west by domesticating the native population.
Peter Onuf defines the westward expansion as a “permanent revolution,” referring to the
American Revolution and suggesting its continuation.
The American Revolution is regarded as superior to its contemporaries (e.g. the French
Revolution), as it separates politics from economics—it stops so as not to “undermine the
right of private property,” avoiding terror and anarchy.
The United States does not show restraint in regard to territorial expansion (as it does with
property rights) and blames the Native American resistance on Great Britain; Jefferson claims
that the mass slaughter of Indians on the American soil is a chapter in British history, as it is
due to Great Britain’s actions that “perpetual peace” is rejected by Native Americans.

Section 5

According to James Madison, freedom relies on expansion and needs to divide factions, and
that expansion becomes a “condition of freedom” and “freedom itself.”
Louis Hartz describes that Americans believe themselves to be the Absolute—it reveals itself
in obsessive individualism and timeless “innocence of mind”—they reject the idea of “old,”
meaning that no boundaries apply to them, even that of death; it is because of the United
States’ existence in “seemingly limitless space,” free of boundaries of the past and with the
only option to move forward with its endless opportunities.
The idea of “the Alpha and the Omega,” as in being everything, represents America—“we had
to take all so we could be all.”
 CHAPTER 3
A Caucasian Democracy
“All beyond was wilderness.”
• “frontier,” “border,” “boundary”

• Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe that the Indigenous People would vanish
• In 1783 Continental Congress bans settlement in land inhabited or claimed by Indians
• North Carolina passed “Land Grab Act”
• 1807 - Intrusion Act
• “slave coffles” and Andrew Jackson
• 1812 – beginning of the extermination of the Creek Nation – Tennessee
• Jackson’s Creek Treaty
• Monroe, Madison, and Jefferson were not so brutal as Jackson, but they came to depend on
him
• Jackson won the election in 1828
• The Age of Jackson
• The Indian Removal Act of 1830
• The Indian Country
• The Age of Jackson as a great freedom for white people
• the changes in the meaning of the word “frontier”
CHAPTER 4 The Safety Valve - Aniela Tomczyk, Julia Werulik

OUTLINE

Safety valves were used in many devices, such as boilers, locomotives, and steam engines, to
avoid explosions caused by accumulating pressure and gas.
In the meantime safety valves and its usage gained metaphorical meaning.

Safety valves as metaphors:

- mental breakdowns resulting in the development of new doctrines such as
Mormonism,
- “rotation of office-holders, access to a legal system, power-sharing between state and
federal authorities,”
- freedom of press
- complaining “grumbling” about things,
- for slaves on plantations: the Christmastime full of great time and fun to avoid
“insurrections,”
- moral safety valve: rational thinking to battle “animal instincts,”
- sexual violence towards enslaved women to redirect the lust from white women
- colonization,
- westward expansion (public land available to immigrant workers, distracting the
federal government, peaceful solution to the slavery problem)

Overall, there were various ways in which the metaphor of releasing the “social steam”
through the safety valve were adapted in many fields. Nevertheless, the West was the most
important Safety Valve. Many people had many different reasons to support the Westward
expansion; however what really mattered was the expansion itself as it was a way to release
accumulated pressure in the developing nation.