After viewing Dr. Brion McClanahan‘s excellent online college level courses on The War for Southern Independence and US History to 1865, I am even more convinced than ever that the key to unlocking an understanding of the dynamic of American history, from colonization to the present, is grasping the tremendous impact of the conflicts and contributions the various ethnocultural and ethnoreligious immigrant groups have made on these shores. This is a subject I first began intensely studying over forty years ago in 1978 due to the pioneering work in this area by Murray N. Rothbard. This is the Rosetta Stone that deciphers and explains it all.
Here are seven authoritative volumes which present the essential backstory. I could list many others:
Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America;
The Cousins’ Wars: Religion, Politics, Civil Warfare, And The Triumph Of Anglo-America;
Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millennial Role;
The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism;
America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation;
The Cross of Culture: A Social Analysis of Midwestern Politics 1850-1900; and
The place to begin with however, is Rothbard’s seminal book, The Progressive Era.
And here are six crucial articles on this important subject:
- “Let the People See”: Reflections on Ethnoreligious Forces in American Politics — Joel H. Silbey article
- Religion, Politics, and the American Polity: A Dynamic View of Relationships — Paul Kleppner article
- Religion, Morality, and American Politics — Richard Jensen article
- The Transformation of the American Party System — Murray N. Rothbard article
- The Progressive Era and the Family –– Murray N. Rothbard article
- The Origins of the Welfare State in America — Murray N. Rothbard article