Historians of postwar American politics often identify race as a driving force in the dynamically shifting political culture. Joshua Zeitz instead places religion and ethnicity at the fore; arguing that ethnic conflict among Irish Catholics; Italian Catholics; and Jews in New York City had a decisive impact on the shape of liberal politics long before black-white racial identity politics entered the political lexicon. Understanding ethnicity as an intersection of class; national origins; and religion; Zeitz demonstrates that the white ethnic populations of New York had significantly diverging views on authority and dissent; community and individuality; secularism and spirituality; and obligation and entitlement. New York Jews came from Eastern European traditions that valued dissent and encouraged political agitation; their Irish and Italian Catholic neighbors tended to value commitment to order; deference to authority; and allegiance to church and community. Zeitz argues that these distinctions ultimately helped fracture the liberal coalition of the Roosevelt era; as many Catholics bolted a Democratic Party increasingly focused on individual liberties; and many dissent-minded Jews moved on to the antiliberal New Left.
#353529 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 2001-02-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.19 x .63 x 6.06l; .89 #File Name: 080784926X256 pagesThe battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war.
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