American Crucible

American Crucible
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 543
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781400883097
ISBN-13 : 1400883091
Rating : 4/5 (97 Downloads)

Book Synopsis American Crucible by : Gary Gerstle

Download or read book American Crucible written by Gary Gerstle and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-02-28 with total page 543 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This sweeping history of twentieth-century America follows the changing and often conflicting ideas about the fundamental nature of American society: Is the United States a social melting pot, as our civic creed warrants, or is full citizenship somehow reserved for those who are white and of the "right" ancestry? Gary Gerstle traces the forces of civic and racial nationalism, arguing that both profoundly shaped our society. After Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders to victory during the Spanish American War, he boasted of the diversity of his men's origins- from the Kentucky backwoods to the Irish, Italian, and Jewish neighborhoods of northeastern cities. Roosevelt’s vision of a hybrid and superior “American race,” strengthened by war, would inspire the social, diplomatic, and economic policies of American liberals for decades. And yet, for all of its appeal to the civic principles of inclusion, this liberal legacy was grounded in “Anglo-Saxon” culture, making it difficult in particular for Jews and Italians and especially for Asians and African Americans to gain acceptance. Gerstle weaves a compelling story of events, institutions, and ideas that played on perceptions of ethnic/racial difference, from the world wars and the labor movement to the New Deal and Hollywood to the Cold War and the civil rights movement. We witness the remnants of racial thinking among such liberals as FDR and LBJ; we see how Italians and Jews from Frank Capra to the creators of Superman perpetuated the New Deal philosophy while suppressing their own ethnicity; we feel the frustrations of African-American servicemen denied the opportunity to fight for their country and the moral outrage of more recent black activists, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, and Malcolm X. Gerstle argues that the civil rights movement and Vietnam broke the liberal nation apart, and his analysis of this upheaval leads him to assess Reagan’s and Clinton’s attempts to resurrect nationalism. Can the United States ever live up to its civic creed? For anyone who views racism as an aberration from the liberal premises of the republic, this book is must reading. Containing a new chapter that reconstructs and dissects the major struggles over race and nation in an era defined by the War on Terror and by the presidency of Barack Obama, American Crucible is a must-read for anyone who views racism as an aberration from the liberal premises of the republic.


American Crucible Related Books

American Crucible
Language: en
Pages: 543
Authors: Gary Gerstle
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-02-28 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This sweeping history of twentieth-century America follows the changing and often conflicting ideas about the fundamental nature of American society: Is the Uni
The Nation's Crucible
Language: en
Pages: 325
Authors: Peter J. Kastor
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2008-10-01 - Publisher: Yale University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1803 the United States purchased Louisiana from France. This seemingly simple acquisition brought with it an enormous new territory as well as the country’
Crucible of Nations
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Adrián Maldonado
Categories: Civilisation médiévale
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the most significant collections of Viking-age and early medieval artefacts in the world is housed at National Museums Scotland. This book offers new per
Crucible of Power
Language: en
Pages: 401
Authors: Howard Jones
Categories: Education
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Employing a narrative approach that uncovers the tangled and often confusing nature of foreign affairs, Crucible of Power focuses on the personalities, security
Crucible of War
Language: en
Pages: 902
Authors: Fred Anderson
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007-12-18 - Publisher: Vintage

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this engrossing narrative of the great military conflagration of the mid-eighteenth century, Fred Anderson transports us into the maelstrom of international