Canada's First National Internment Operations and the Search for Sanctuary in the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association -- Conscientious Objectors in Alberta in the First World War -- SECTION FOUR: Aftermath -- War, Public Health, and the 1918 "Spanish" Influenza Pandemic in Alberta -- Applying Modernity: Local Government and the 1919 Federal Housing Scheme in Alberta -- Soldier Settlement in Alberta, 1917-1931 -- First World War Centennial Commemoration in Alberta Museums -- APPENDIX -- CONTRIBUTORS -- INDEX -- Back Cover
In Patriotism and Piety, Jonathan Den Hartog argues that the question of how religion would function in American society was decided in the decades after the Constitution and First Amendment established a legal framework. Den Hartog shows that among the wide array of politicians and public figures struggling to define religion’s place in the new nation, Federalists stood out—evolving religious attitudes were central to Federalism, and the encounter with Federalism strongly shaped American Christianity. Den Hartog describes the Federalist appropriations of religion as passing through three stages: a "republican" phase of easy cooperation inherited from the experience of the American Revolution; a "combative" phase, forged during the political battles of the 1790s–1800s, when the destiny of the republic was hotly contested; and a "voluntarist" phase that grew in importance after 1800. Faith became more individualistic and issue-oriented as a result of the actions of religious Federalists. Religious impulses fueled party activism and informed governance, but the redirection of religious energies into voluntary societies sapped party momentum, and religious differences led to intraparty splits. These developments altered not only the Federalist Party but also the practice and perception of religion in America, as Federalist insights helped to create voluntary, national organizations in which Americans could practice their faith in interdenominational settings. Patriotism and Pietyfocuses on the experiences and challenges confronted by a number of Federalists, from well-known leaders such as John Adams, John Jay, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Timothy Dwight to lesser-known but still important figures such as Caleb Strong, Elias Boudinot, and William Jay.
Parading Patriotism covers a critical fifty-year period in the nineteenth-century when the American nation was starting to expand and cities across the Midwest were experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. Historian Adam Criblez offers a unique and fascinating study of five midwestern cities—Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Indianapolis—and how celebrations of the Fourth of July in each of them formed a microcosm for the country as a whole in defining and establishing patriotic nationalism and new conceptions of what it was like to be an American. Criblez exposes a rich tapestry of mid-century midwestern social and political life by focusing on the nationalistic rites of Independence Day. He shows how the celebratory façade often masked deep-seated tensions involving such things as race, ethnicity, social class, political party, religion, and even gender. Urban celebrations in these cities often turned violent, with incidents marked by ethnic conflict, racial turmoil, and excessive drunkenness. The celebration of Independence Day became an important political, cultural, and religious ritual on social calendars throughout this time period, and Criblez illustrates how the Midwest adapted cultural developments from outside the region—brought by European immigrants and westward migrants from eastern states like New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The concepts of American homegrown nationalism were forged in the five highlighted midwestern cities, as the new country came to terms with its own independence and how historical memory and elements of zealous and belligerent patriotism came together to construct a new and unique national identity. This ground-breaking book draws on both unpublished sources (including diaries, manuscript collections, and journals) and copious but under-utilized print resources from the region (newspapers, periodicals, travelogues, and pamphlets) to uncover the roots of how the Fourth of July holiday is celebrated today. Criblez's insightful book shows how political independence and republican government was promoted through rituals and ceremonies that were forged in the wake of this historical moment.
Are you an American? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, increasing numbers of people are claiming "American" as their national ancestry. In our melting pot of cultures, they are taking a stand as authentic representatives of the American nation. This growing social phenomenon serves as the launching point for a discussion of what twenty-first century Americanism means--its roots and its significance--and the unrelenting assault from multiculturalists who believe that the term "American" either signifies nothing or is a badge of shame. Author James S. Robbins describes the foundations of the American ideal, the core set of beliefs that define American values, and the ways in which these standards have been undermined and corrupted. He also makes the case for the benefits of an objective standard of what it means to be an American and for returning to the values that turned America from an undeveloped wilderness to the most exceptional country in the world.
During the years leading up to World War I, America experienced a crisis of civic identity. How could a country founded on liberal principles and composed of increasingly diverse cultures unite to safeguard individuals and promote social justice? In this book, Jonathan Hansen tells the story of a group of American intellectuals who believed the solution to this crisis lay in rethinking the meaning of liberalism. Intellectuals such as William James, John Dewey, Jane Addams, Eugene V. Debs, and W. E. B. Du Bois repudiated liberalism's association with acquisitive individualism and laissez-faire economics, advocating a model of liberal citizenship whose virtues and commitments amount to what Hansen calls cosmopolitan patriotism. Rooted not in war but in dedication to social equity, cosmopolitan patriotism favored the fight against sexism, racism, and political corruption in the United States over battles against foreign foes. Its adherents held the domestic and foreign policy of the United States to its own democratic ideals and maintained that promoting democracy universally constituted the ultimate form of self-defense. Perhaps most important, the cosmopolitan patriots regarded critical engagement with one's country as the essence of patriotism, thereby justifying scrutiny of American militarism in wartime.
For millennia humanity has simultaneously deplored and waged war. With each conflict the stakes have risen, and we now face global annihilation for the sake of a practice all the world claims to condemn. Is there some seemingly irresistible force that impels us toward our own destruction? To explain this central paradox of human behaviour, Genetic Seeds of Warfare, originally published in 1989, advances a startling new theory. It traces the origins of warfare back to early groups of Homo sapiens in competition for scarce resources, showing that warfare evolved as these groups evolved: kin-group against kin-group; tribe against tribe; nation against nation. Rather than being tied to a specific gene, warfare emerged as one of many behavioural strategies for maximising genetic survival. As social groups became more complex, motivations for warfare developed from simple protection of blood relations to political appeals to shared ethnicity, religion, and national identity. But the ultimate cause of warfare is rooted in the most basic of human drives: the need to ensure that one’s genes will survive and reproduce. The authors challenge many assumptions about human behaviour in general, and warfare in particular. They convincingly present the case for an evolutionary understanding of the propensity for warfare, supporting their argument with data from a vast array of social and natural science research. In doing so, they reveal why previous attempts at ending war have failed, and make proactive suggestions toward the development of a new agenda for world peace.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE A new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump’s border wall. Ever since this nation’s inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States’ belief in itself as an exceptional nation – democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America hasa new symbol: the border wall. In The End of the Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history – from the American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America’s constant expansion – fighting wars and opening markets – served as a “gate of escape,” helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country’s problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home. It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.
Traces how Native Americans have defined, both domestically and internationally, democracy, citizenship, and patriotism, covering the activist struggle on reservations, during wartime, and in the courtroom to preserve the diverse culture of American Indians and assert an ethnic nationalism across the country.
