The American Professions: A History of Authority, 1750-1900

FAIN: FA-11176-75

Samuel Haber
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA 94704-5940)

To study and examine the history of authority via the professions in America. The official theory of authority asserts that the right to power rests upon the consent of the governed. The P.I. maintains that authority rests in other areas, i.e. the professions. The study will examine the origins and evolution of professional authority in the epoch of the American Revolution (1750-1830); then trace its decline and transformation (1830-80); and its revival, when present patterns of professionalism were set (1880-1900). Throughout, the broader significance of these events for the American social order will be stressed.