Title Identity and the failure of America : from Thomas Jefferson to the War on Terror / John Michael

Published Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, ©2008

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 301 pages) Contents The failure of America and the claims of identity -- Jefferson's headache: race and the failure of a benevolent republic -- Ahab's cannibals: vicissitudes of command and the failure of manly virtue -- Lydia Maria Child's romance: cosmopolitan imagination and the failure of gender reform -- John Brown's identities: Nat Turner and the fear of just deserts -- Emerson's activism: the trials and tribulations of an American citizen -- Douglass's cosmopolitanism: American empire and the failure of diplomatic representation -- American identities and global terror Summary From Thomas Jefferson to John Rawls, justice has been at the center of America's self-image and national creed. At the same time, for many of its peoples-from African slaves and European immigrants to women and the poor-the American experience has been defined by injustice: oppression, disenfranchisement, violence, and prejudice. In Identity and the Failure of America, John Michael explores the contradictions between a mythic national identity promising justice to all and the realities of a divided, hierarchical, and frequently iniquitous history and social order. Through a series of insightfu Notes Title from e-book t.p. (viewed May 21, 2010) Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-294) and index Subject Allegiance -- United States -- History American literature -- History and criticism. Failure (Psychology) -- United States -- History Group identity -- United States -- History National characteristics, American. Nationalism -- United States -- History Social justice -- United States -- History SOCIAL SCIENCE -- General. Allegiance American literature Failure (Psychology) Group identity Intellectual life National characteristics, American Nationalism Politics and government Social conditions Social justice SUBJECT United States -- Intellectual life. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140363 United States -- Politics and government. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140410 United States -- Social conditions. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140511 Subject United States Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780816656691 081665669X

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