Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

American Nations



A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

By Colin Woodard

*Praise for AMERICAN NATIONS*

A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Politics” Pick for Fall 2011
“Colin Woodard explains away partisanship in American Nations: A History of
the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, which makes the
provocative claim that our culture wars are inevitable. North America was
settled by groups with distinct political and religious value—and we haven’t
had a moment’s peace since.”

“Woodard offers a fascinating way to parse American (writ large) politics and
history in this excellent book.” ?Kirkus (starred review)


"A smart read that feels particularly timely now, when so many would claim a
mythically unified “Founding Fathers’’ as their political ancestors."
-- Boston Globe

If you want to better understand U.S. politics, history, and culture, AMERICAN NATIONS:

A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America,
by Colin Woodard is to be required reading. In AMERICAN NATIONS, Woodard leads us
through the history of our fractured continent, and the rivalries and alliances
between its component nations. He explains why “American values” vary
sharply from one region to another—how an idea like “freedom” as understood
by an East Texan or Idahoan can be the polar opposite of what it means to a
New Englander or San Franciscan. Woodard reveals how intra-national
differences have played a pivotal role at every point in the continent’s history,
right up into the 2012 election cycle. AMERICAN NATIONS is a revolutionary
and revelatory take on America’s myriad identities, and how the conflicts
between them have shaped our past and mold our future.

There isn’t and never has been one America, Colin Woodard argues, but rather
several Americas. The original North American colonies were settled by people
from distinct regions of the British Islands, and from France, the Netherlands,
and Spain, each with unique religious, political, and ethnographic
characteristics. Some championed individualism, others utopian social reform.
Some believed themselves guided by divine purpose, others freedom of
conscience and inquiry. Some embraced an Anglo-Saxon Protestant identity,
others ethnic and religious pluralism. Some valued equality and democratic
participation, others deference to a traditional aristocratic order. All of them
continue to uphold their respective ideals today, with results that can be seen
on the composition of the U.S. Congress or the county-by-county election maps
of most any competitive presidential election of the past two centuries.

Woodard tackles such questions as: why are there such enormous regional
differences in opinion over such fundamental issues as the appropriate balance
between individual liberty and the public good, over the relationship between
church and state or whether the United States is a “Christian” nation or a
secular one, if a national culture exists and, if so, whether immigrants should
be encouraged to assimilate into it; if business and industry should be closely
regulated or freed from constraints; over which party is defending American
values and which one is undermining them.

By revealing this continent of rivals, AMERICAN NATIONS will revolutionize
the way Americans think about their past, their country, and themselves and is
sure spark controversy and debate for the upcoming political season.


Available at your local bookstore or via Amazon.com and B&N.com.

Also available in Kindle and Nook editions.



http://www.colinwoodard.com/americannations.html


I'm sure many of the smart people on this board all ready knew a bunch of 'this type' of history ...all I knew is that 'different colonies' were settled by people from different places .. but I absolutely never thought of them being so culturally different from one another ..in my mind what they had in common stood out more ..and I didn't spend much time on their differences ......so I find this fascinating ..