Celebrating the fourth : Independence Day and the rites of nationalism in the early Republic / Len Travers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Travers, Len, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fourth of July celebrations--History.

Fourth of July celebrations.

Fourth of July.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

x, 278 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Contained In:

ACLS Humanities E-Book. URL: http://www.humanitiesebook.org/

Place of Publication:

Amherst, Mass. : University of Massachusetts Press, ©1997.

Summary:

Public rituals have always held a vital place in American culture. By far the noisiest and most popular of these to emerge in the nation's early years was Independence Day. After a decade of fitful starts, the Fourth of July eclipsed local and regional patriotic observances to become the premier "American Jubilee." Celebrating the Fourth provides a history of this holiday and explores its role in shaping a national identity and consciousness in three cities - Boston, Charleston, and Philadelphia - during the first fifty years of the American republic. Independence Day celebrations justified, validated, and helped maintain nationalism among people unused to offering political allegiance beyond their own state borders. As the observances became increasingly popular and symbolically important, political partisans competed hotly for the right to control the meaning of the festivals. The actions of these partisans, as well as of less politically motivated citizens, provide important clues to understanding American culture in the post-revolutionary era. Taken together, the parades, parties, firework displays, sporting events, and drinking bouts that marked a proper observance of the Fourth of July constituted a public ritual expressing the beliefs and values of the participants.

Contents:

Introduction

"Excellent Political Moves"

Spiritual Blood

A Partisan Holiday

Observing the Fourth

"Even to Blood"

Making Over the Fourth

Jubilee

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-272) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Travers, Len, 1952- Celebrating the fourth.

ISBN:

1558490604

9781558490604

058508422X

9780585084220

OCLC:

34617816

Publisher Number:

2027/heb.33582 hdl

Online:

Book review (H-Net)