Book contents
- Understanding the American South
- Cambridge Studies on the American South
- Understanding the American South
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I Understanding the American South and the Civil War in a New Century
- Part II Understanding the South and the American Identity
- Part III Understanding Slavery, Race, and Inequality in the American South
- Part IV Understanding History and Irony
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2024
- Understanding the American South
- Cambridge Studies on the American South
- Understanding the American South
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I Understanding the American South and the Civil War in a New Century
- Part II Understanding the South and the American Identity
- Part III Understanding Slavery, Race, and Inequality in the American South
- Part IV Understanding History and Irony
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Americans in the twenty-first century find themselves searching for new understandings of their history. They seek explanations for chronic political polarization, acute pandemic polarization, social media addiction, heightened concern over global warming and armed global conflict, widening cultural and economic gaps between city and countryside, persistent racial tensions, gender divides, tensions over abortion rights and the public school curriculum, and a forty-year pattern of increasing economic inequality in the United States. Americans are looking for a past that can help them understand the divided and fractious present, a past that enlightens and inspires. In this collection of original essays, Lacy K. Ford uses the past to inform the present, as he provides a deeper, more nuanced understanding of American history and the American South�s complicated relationship with it.
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- Information
- Understanding the American SouthSlavery, Race, Identity, and the American Century, pp. 1 - 10Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024