American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America An illuminating history of North America's eleven rival cultural regions that explodes the red state-blue state myth. North America was settled by people with distinct religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics, creating regional cultures that have been at odds with one another ever since. Subsequent immigrants didn't confront or assimilate into an “American” or “Canadian” culture, but rather into one of the eleven distinct regional ones that spread over the continent each staking out mutually exclusive territory. In American Nations, Colin Woodard leads us on a journey through the history of our fractured continent, and the rivalries and alliances between its component nations, which conform to neither state nor international boundaries. He illustrates and explains why “American” values vary sharply from one region to another. Woodard (author of American Character: A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good) reveals how intranational differences have played a pivotal role at every point in the continent's history, from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the tumultuous sixties and the "blue county/red county" maps of recent presidential elections. American Nations is a revolutionary and revelatory take on America's myriad identities and how the conflicts between them have shaped our past and are molding our future. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - Tatoosh - LibraryThingWoodward’s thesis is that the various geographic regions of the present-day United States were originally populated (i.e., conquered) by western European groups that differed in religious, social and ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - EllenH - LibraryThingThis started out with such an interesting premise, but as I went into it further, I became uncomfortable with the author's bias (my perception). I probably won't finish it, but his descriptions of the different cultures will be with me. Best to try to understand where others come from I guess. Read full review
Contents
Founding New France | |
Founding Tidewater | |
Founding Yankeedom | |
Founding New Netherland | |
The Colonies First Revolt | |
The Midlands Spread West | |
Appalachia Spreads West | |
The Deep South Spreads West | |
Conquering El Norte | |
Founding the Left Coast | |
War for the West | |
PART FOUR CULTURE WARS 1878 to 2010 | |
Founding the Far West | |
Founding the Deep South | |
Founding the Midlands | |
Founding Greater Appalachia | |
PART TWO UNLIKELY ALLIES 1770 to 1815 | |
A Common Struggle | |
Six Wars of Liberation | |
Independence or Revolution? | |
Nations in the North | |
First Secessionists | |
PART THREE WARS FOR THE WEST 1816 to 1877 | |
CHAPTER 15Yankeedom Spreads West | |
Immigration and Identity | |
Gods and Missions | |
Culture Clash | |
War Empire and the Military | |
The Blue Nations | |
The Red and the Purple | |
Epilogue | |
Other editions - View all
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North ... Colin Woodard No preview available - 2011 |
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North ... Colin Woodard No preview available - 2011 |