American Nationalisms
Imagining Union in the Age of Revolutions, 1783–1833

This book traces how early Americans imagined what a 'nation' meant during the first fifty years of the country's existence.

Benjamin E. Park (Author)

9781108414203, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 February 2019

264 pages, 8 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.1 x 1.6 cm, 0.35 kg

'Great strides were made toward forging a new nation of united states, but regional perspectives also remained strong. Park uses three states (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina) to show the ways in which provincialism persisted in the early national era. Recommended for graduate students, faculty, and professionals.' E. Eslinger, Choice

America was born in an age of political revolution throughout the Atlantic world, a period when the very definition of 'nation' was transforming. Benjamin E. Park traces how Americans imagined novel forms of nationality during the country's first five decades within the context of European discussions taking place at the same time. Focusing on three case studies - Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina - Park examines the developing practices of nationalism in three specific contexts. He argues for a more elastic connection between nationalism and the nation-state by demonstrating that ideas concerning political and cultural allegiance to a federal body developed in different ways and at different rates throughout the nation. American Nationalisms explores how ideas of nationality permeated political disputes, religious revivals, patriotic festivals, slavery debates, and even literature.

Introduction
Part I. Imagining Union: 1. Imagining nationalism in an age of statehood
2. Local preachers, Thanksgiving sermons, and New England's national covenant
Part II. Imagining Disunion: 3. (Re)constructing state, nation, and empire in the Second War with Great Britain
4. Liberty, slavery, and the rise of sectionalism
5. The nullification crisis and the fracturing of national interests
Epilogue: the boundaries of America's nationalist imagination.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], History of the Americas [HBJK]