American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

Overview An illuminating history of North America's eleven rival cultural regions that explodes the red state-blue state myth. North America was settled by people with distinct religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics, creating regional cultures that have been at odds with one another ever since. Subsequent immigrants didn't confront or assimilate into an "American" or "Canadian" culture, but rather into one of the eleven distinct regional ones that spread over the continent each staking out mutually exclusive territory. In?

American Nations, Colin Woodard leads us on a journey through the history of our fractured continent, and the rivalries and alliances between its component nations, which conform to neither state nor international boundaries. He illustrates and explains why "American" values vary sharply from one region to another. Woodard (author of?

American Character:?A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good )? reveals how intranational differences have played a pivotal role at every point in the continent's history, from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the tumultuous sixties and the "blue county/red county" maps of recent presidential elections.? American Nations is a revolutionary and revelatory take on America's myriad identities and how the conflicts between them have shaped our past and are molding our future. Book details

Book Details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication date: 09/29/2011 Sold by: Penguin Group NOOK Book
• Pages: 384 Sales rank: 47,786 Age Range: 18 Years About the Author Colin Woodard is a Maine native and the author of? Ocean's End: Travels Through Endangered Seas . He is a regular contributor to the? Christian Science Monitor and the? San Francisco Chronicle Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part 1 Origins: 1590 to 1769 1 Chapter 1 Founding El Norte 23 Chapter 2 Founding New France 34 Chapter 3 Founding Tidewater 44 Chapter 4 Founding Yankeedom 57 Chapter 5 Founding New Netherland 65 Chapter 6 The Colonies? First Revolt 73 Chapter 7 Founding the Deep South 82 Chapter 8 Founding the Midlands 92 Chapter 9 Founding Greater Appalachia 101 Part 2 Unlikely Allies: 1770 to 1815 Chapter 10 A Common Struggle 115 Chapter 11 Six Wars of Liberation 127 Chapter 12 Independence or Revolution? 141 Chapter 13 Nations in the North 150 Chapter 14 First Secessionists 157 Part 3 Wars for the West: 1816 to 1877 Chapter 15 Yankeedom Spreads West 173 Chapter 16 The Midlands Spread West 183 Chapter 17 Appalacia Spreads West 189 Chapter 18 The Deep South Spreads West 200 Chapter 19 Conquering El Norte 208 Chapter 20 Founding the Left Coast 216 Chapter 21 War for the West 224 Part 4 Culture Wars: 1878 to 2010 Chapter 22 Founding the Far West 243 Chapter 23 Immigration and Identity 254 Chapter 24 Gods and Missions 263 Chapter 25 Culture Clash 274 Chapter 26 War, Empire, and the Military 285 Chapter 27 The Struggle for Power I: The Blue Nations 295 Chapter 28 The Struggle for Power II: The Red and the Purple 302 Epilogue 314 Acknowledgements and Suggested Reading 323 Notes 327 Index 355
• ISBN-13: 9781101544457