Beulah, by Augusta Jane Evans, was hugely successful at the time it was published in America in 1859. A semi-autobiographical account, the author felt it was her duty to warn readers of the problems she had experienced with religious skepticism. Advances in science after the Middle Ages led to the increasing valuation of reason and objectivity. By the early- to mid-nineteenth century it was quite fashionable to be skeptical, especially about religious matters. The eponymous heroine of the novel passes through several phases of religious faith on her intellectual journey of skepticism before she finally reawakens with a mature Christian faith. She eventually learns to properly balance faith and reason.
A history of the African American woman’s experience in America and an analysis of the relationship between sexism and racism. When and Where I Enter is an eloquent testimonial to the profound influences of African American women on race and women’s movements throughout American history. Drawing on speeches, diaries, letters, and other original documents, Paula Giddings powerfully portrays how black women have transcended racist and sexist attitudes—often confronting white feminists and black male leaders alike—to initiate social and political reform. From the open disregard for the rights of slave women to examples of today’s more covert racism and sexism in civil rights and women’s organizations, Giddings illuminates the black woman’s crusade for equality in the process, she paints unforgettable portraits of black female leaders, such as antilynching activist Ida B. Wells, educator and FDR adviser Mary McCleod Bethune, and the heroic civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, among others, who fought both overt and institutionalized oppression. Praise for When and Where I Enter “History at its best—clear, intelligent, moving. Paula Giddings has written a book as priceless as its subject.” —Toni Morrison “A powerful book. Paula Giddings has shone a brilliant light on the lives of women left in the shadow of history.” —Maya Angelou “A jarringly fresh interpretation . . . a labor of commitment and love.” —New York Times Book Review
The Second Ku Klux Klan’s success in the 1920s remains one of the order’s most enduring mysteries. Emerging first as a brotherhood dedicated to paying tribute to the original Southern organization of the Reconstruction period, the Second Invisible Empire developed into a mass movement with millions of members that influenced politics and culture throughout the early 1920s. This study explores the nature of fraternities, especially the overlap between the Klan and Freemasonry. Drawing on many previously untouched archival resources, it presents a detailed and nuanced analysis of the development and later decline of the Klan and the complex nature of its relationship with the traditions of American fraternalism.
This book provides a stimulating account of the dominant cultural forms of 1950s America: fiction and poetry; theatre and performance; film and television; music and radio; and the visual arts. Through detailed commentary and focused case studies of influential texts and events - from Invisible Man to West Side Story, from Disneyland to the Seattle World's Fair, from Rear Window to The Americans - the book examines the way in which modernism and the cold war offer two frames of reference for understanding the trajectory of postwar culture. The two core aims of this volume are to chart the changing complexion of American culture in the years following World War II and to provide readers with a critical investigation of 'the 1950s'. The book provides an intellectual context for approaching 1950s American culture and considers the historical impact of the decade on recent social and cultural developments.
Antebellum Natchez is most often associated with the grand and romantic aspects of the Old South and its landed gentry. Yet there was, as this book so amply illustrates, another Natchez—the Natchez of ordinary citizens, small businessmen, and free Negroes, and the Natchez under-the-Hill of brawling boatmen, professional gamblers, and bold-faced strumpets. Antebellum Natchez not only takes a critical look at the town’s aristocracy but also examines the depth of its commercial activities and the life of its middle- and lower-class elements. Author D. Clayton James brings the political, economic, and social aspects of antebellum Natchez into perspective and debunks a number of myths and illusions, including the notion that the town was a stronghold of Federalism and Whiggery. Starting with the Natchez Indians and their “Sun God” culture, James traces the development of the town from the native village through the plotting and intrigue of the changing regimes of the French, Spanish, British, and Americans. James makes a perceptive analysis of the aristocrats’ role in restricting the growth of the town, which in 1800 appeared likely to become the largest city in the transmontane region. “The attitudes and behavior of the aristocrats of Natchez during the final three decades of the antebellum period were characterized by escapism and exclusiveness,” says James. “With the aristocrats sullenly withdrawing into their world...Natchez lost forever the opportunity to become a major metropolis, and Mississippi was led to ruin.” Quoting generously from diaries, journals, and other records, the author gives the reader a valuable insight into what life in a Southern town was like before the Civil War. Antebellum Natchez is an important account of the role of Natchez and its colorful figures—John Quitman, Robert Walker, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, William C. C. Claiborne, and a host of others—in the colonial affairs of the Lower Mississippi Valley and the growth of the Old Southwest.
"Analyzing the voluminous writings of this era and the evidence of public consumption of and debate over them. Baker takes readers on a fascinating human journey. 'Views of the future state' presents a much-needed chapter in the heritage of spiritual seekers and raises timeless questions about life after death.
