num_pages: 288
description: A provocative examination of the historical origins and impact of terrorism in America.With insight and originality Michael Fellman argues that terrorism in various forms has been a constant and driving force in American history. In part this is due to the nature of American republicanism and Protestant Christianity which he believes contain a core of moral absolutism and self-righteousness that perpetrators of terrorism use to justify their actions. Fellman also argues that there is an intrinsic relationship between terrorist acts by non-state groups and responses on the part of the state; unlike many observers he believes that both the action and the reaction constitute terrorism. Fellmans compelling narrative focuses on five key John Browns raid on Harpers Ferry; terrorism during the American Civil War especially race warfare and guerrilla warfare; the organized White Line paramilitary destruction of Reconstruction in Mississippi; the Haymarket Affair and its aftermath; and the Philippine-American war of 18991902. In an epilogue he applies this history to illuminate the Bush-Cheney administrations use of terrorism in the so-called war on terror. In the Name of God and Country demonstrates the centrality of terrorism in shaping America even to this day.
language: English
title: In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History
publisher: Yale University Press