Title: Civic ideals : conflicting visions of citizenship in U.S. history /
Authors: Smith, Rogers M., 1953-
Publisher: Yale University Press,
Year: 1997
Subjects: Bürger, ...; Weise, ...; Citizenship United States History; Discrimination Law and legislation United States History.; Minorities Legal status, laws, etc. United States History.; United States Race relations
Abstract: Is civic identity in the United States really defined by liberal, democratic political principles? Or is U.S. citizenship the product of multiple traditions - not only liberalism and republicanism but also white supremacy, Anglo-Saxon supremacy, Protestant supremacy, and male supremacy? In this powerful and disturbing book, Rogers Smith traces political struggles over U.S. citizenship laws from the colonial period through the Progressive era and shows that throughout this time, most adults were legally denied access to full citizenship, including political rights, solely because of their race, ethnicity, or gender. Basic conflicts over these denials have driven political development in the U.S., Smith argues. These conflicts are what truly define U.S. civic identity up to this day.
Contents: The hidden lessons of American citizenship laws -- Fierce new world : the colonial sources of American citizenship -- Forging a revolutionary people, 1763-1776 -- Citizen of small republics : the Confederation era, 1776-1789 -- The Constitution and the quest for national citizenship -- Attempting national liberal citizenship : the Federalist years, 1789-1801 -- Toward a commercial nation of white yeoman republics : the Jeffersonian era, 1801-1829 -- High noon of the white republic : the age of Jackson, 1829-1856 -- Dred Scott unchained : the bloody birth of the free labor republic, 1857-1866 -- The America that "never was" / the radical hour, 1866-1876 -- The gilded age of ascriptive Americanism, 1876-1898 -- Progressivism and the new American empire, 1898-1912 -- Epilogue : the party of America.