| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 368 pages) : illustrations, maps |
| Contents |
What is American civil religion? -- America: the name, the concept, and the word -- Jamestown and its anniversaries -- The Mayflower Compact -- Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims, and the Indians -- City on a hill: from Jesus to Winthrop, Kennedy, and Reagan -- The Freedom Trail and Boston Common -- The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the slave quarters -- The flag -- The Declaration of Independence -- The Great Seal and the dollar bill -- The Constitution -- Washington, D.C.: the city, the Capitol, and the White House -- The Star-Spangled Banner -- The Washington Monument -- The Battle Hymn of the Republic -- Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address -- Lincoln's second inaugural address -- Arlington National Cemetery -- The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island -- America the Beautiful -- The Lincoln Memorial -- Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills -- God Bless America -- This Land is Your Land -- The four freedoms -- Iwo Jima: the picture, the monuments, and the battle -- Disney parks -- The Kennedy inaugural --Kings' speeches: the Mall (1963) and Memphis (1968) -- Vietnam Veterans Memorial -- Transforming the National Mall -- Ground zero, martyrdom, and empire -- Conflict, consensus, and the future |
| Summary |
"The United States has never had an officially established national church. Since the time of the first British colonists, it has instead developed a strong civil religion that melds God and nation. In a deft exploration of American civil religious symbols -- from the Liberty Bell to the Vietnam Memorial, from Mount Rushmore to Disney World -- Peter Gardella explains how the places, objects, and words that Americans hold sacred came into being and how Americans' feelings about them have changed over time. In addition to examining revered historical sites and structures, he analyzes such sacred texts as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, the Kennedy Inaugural, and the speeches of Martin Luther King, and shows how five patriotic songs -- 'The Star-Spangled Banner, ' 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic, ' 'America the Beautiful, ' 'God Bless America, ' and 'This Land Is Your Land' -- have been elevated into hymns. Arguing that certain values -- personal freedom, political democracy, world peace, and cultural tolerance -- have held American civil religion together, Gardella chronicles the numerous forms those values have taken, from Jamestown and Plymouth to the September 11, 2001 Memorial in New York."--Publisher information |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references |
| Notes |
English |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
National characteristics, American.
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Public history -- United States
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Symbolism -- United States
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National monuments -- Social aspects -- United States
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Collective memory -- United States
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Patriotism -- United States
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General.
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Collective memory
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National characteristics, American
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Patriotism
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Public history
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Symbolism
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United States
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780199355013 |
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0199355010 |
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1306136296 |
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9781306136297 |
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