Red, White, and Blue Letter Days

Red, White, and Blue Letter Days PDF Author: Matthew Dennis
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501723707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, and other celebrations matter to Americans and reflect the state of American local and national politics. Commemorations of cataclysmic events and light, apparently trivial observances mirror American political and cultural life. Both reveal much about the material conditions of the United States and its citizens' identities, historical consciousness, and political attitudes. Lying dormant within these festivals is the potential for political consequence, controversy, even transformation. American political fetes remain works in progress, as Americans use historical celebrations as occasions to reinvent themselves and their nation, often with surprising results. In six engaging chapters 'assaying particular political holidays over the course of their histories, Red, White, and Blue Letter Days examines how Americans have shaped and been shaped by their calendar. Matthew Dennis explores this vast political and cultural terrain, charting how Americans defined their identities through celebration. Independence Day invited African Americans to demand the equality promised in the Declaration of Independence, for example, just as Columbus Day—celebrating the Italian, Catholic explorer—helped immigrants proclaim their legitimacy as Americans. Native Americans too could use public holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Veterans Day, to express dissent or demonstrate their claims to citizenship. Merchants and advertisers colonized the American calendar, moving in to sell their products by linking them, often tenuously, with holiday occasions or casting consumption as a patriotic act.

Red, White, and Blue Letter Days

Red, White, and Blue Letter Days PDF Author: Matthew Dennis
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501723707
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, and other celebrations matter to Americans and reflect the state of American local and national politics. Commemorations of cataclysmic events and light, apparently trivial observances mirror American political and cultural life. Both reveal much about the material conditions of the United States and its citizens' identities, historical consciousness, and political attitudes. Lying dormant within these festivals is the potential for political consequence, controversy, even transformation. American political fetes remain works in progress, as Americans use historical celebrations as occasions to reinvent themselves and their nation, often with surprising results. In six engaging chapters 'assaying particular political holidays over the course of their histories, Red, White, and Blue Letter Days examines how Americans have shaped and been shaped by their calendar. Matthew Dennis explores this vast political and cultural terrain, charting how Americans defined their identities through celebration. Independence Day invited African Americans to demand the equality promised in the Declaration of Independence, for example, just as Columbus Day—celebrating the Italian, Catholic explorer—helped immigrants proclaim their legitimacy as Americans. Native Americans too could use public holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Veterans Day, to express dissent or demonstrate their claims to citizenship. Merchants and advertisers colonized the American calendar, moving in to sell their products by linking them, often tenuously, with holiday occasions or casting consumption as a patriotic act.

The Days We Celebrate

The Days We Celebrate PDF Author: Marie Irish
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Holidays
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description


We are what We Celebrate

We are what We Celebrate PDF Author: Amitai Etzioni
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814722261
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
How did Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday become a national holiday? Why do we exchange presents on Christmas and Chanukah? What do bunnies have to do with Easter? How did Earth Day become a global holiday? These questions and more are answered in this fascinating exploration into the history and meaning of holidays and rituals. Edited by Amitai Etzioni, one of the most influential social and political thinkers of our time, this collection provides a compelling overview of the impact that holidays and rituals have on our family and communal life. From community solidarity to ethnic relations to religious traditions, We Are What We Celebrate argues that holidays such as Halloween, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day play an important role in reinforcing, and sometimes redefining, our values as a society. The collection brings together classic and original essays that, for the first time, offer a comprehensive overview and analysis of the important role such celebrations play in maintaining a moral order as well as in cementing family bonds, building community relations and creating national identity. The essays cover such topics as the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday; the importance of holidays for children; the mainstreaming of Kwanzaa; and the controversy over Columbus Day celebrations. Compelling and often surprising, this look at holidays and rituals brings new meaning to not just the ways we celebrate but to what those celebrations tell us about ourselves and our communities. Contributors: Theodore Caplow, Gary Cross, Matthew Dennis, Amitai Etzioni, John R. Gillis, Ellen M. Litwicki, Diana Muir, Francesca Polletta, Elizabeth H. Pleck, David E. Proctor, Mary F. Whiteside, and Anna Day Wilde.

Celebrate Independence Day

Celebrate Independence Day PDF Author: Deborah Heiligman
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 9781426300745
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
Introduces the birthday of the United States of America, how the war for independence was fought and won, and how people today celebrate this special holiday.

The Night Before the Fourth of July

The Night Before the Fourth of July PDF Author: Natasha Wing
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0448487128
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
The twentieth title in the bestselling Night Before series is the perfect summer treat! It's the night before the Fourth of July and all across the United States people are getting ready for hot dogs and fireworks. Decked in red, white, and blue, a family heads to a parade, hosts a backyard BBQ with friends and family, dodges an afternoon thundershower, and of course, watches a fireworks show. The Night Before the Fourth of July captures all the fun, excitement, and pride of the best summer holiday!

American Holy Days, Second Edition

American Holy Days, Second Edition PDF Author: Boardman W. Kathan
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Our national holidays have been trivialized by merchandising, consumerism, and long weekends. What do you know about the origins of the national holidays of the United States? Boardman Kathan presents the persons and events that each of our “holy days” commemorates. In so doing he explores the shaping of American history and identity, revealing often-misunderstood parts of our national story from a new approach. Each chapter looks at the many books and research written about the events commemorated by these holidays, showing their relevance for today. Kathan includes discussion of the spiritual or religious dimensions of these national observances, pointing out that although the United States was not founded as a “Christian nation” on biblical principles, people throughout American history have perceived a divine guidance—or what George Washington called “providential care.” This book reflects back on the original meaning of these days and seeks to inspire renewed forms of celebration, commemoration, and observance. Celebrating patriotic holidays can bring us together as a people, especially in times of stress and conflict. Schools, religious institutions, patriotic organizations, readers interested in history, in short the general public, will find this an enjoyable aid for recalling our history, reclaiming our values and traditions, and restoring a sense of community.

Symbols of Nations and Nationalism

Symbols of Nations and Nationalism PDF Author: Gabriella Elgenius
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230317049
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Providing an original perspective on the construction of nations and national identities, this book examines national symbols and ceremonies, arguing that, far from being just superficial or decorative, they are in fact an integral part of nation building, maintenance and change.

Oration by Frederick Douglass. Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1876, with an Appendix

Oration by Frederick Douglass. Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument in Memory of Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C., April 14th, 1876, with an Appendix PDF Author: Frederick Douglass
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3385512875
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

San Antonio on Parade

San Antonio on Parade PDF Author: Judith Berg-Sobré
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 9781585442225
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Recounts the events of six historic festivals in San Antonio, Texas, at the end of the nineteenth century, describing each event's pageantry, parades, competitions, and participants.

Parading Patriotism

Parading Patriotism PDF Author: Adam J. Criblez
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1609090888
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
Parading Patriotism covers a critical fifty-year period in the nineteenth-century when the American nation was starting to expand and cities across the Midwest were experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. Historian Adam Criblez offers a unique and fascinating study of five midwestern cities—Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Indianapolis—and how celebrations of the Fourth of July in each of them formed a microcosm for the country as a whole in defining and establishing patriotic nationalism and new conceptions of what it was like to be an American. Criblez exposes a rich tapestry of mid-century midwestern social and political life by focusing on the nationalistic rites of Independence Day. He shows how the celebratory façade often masked deep-seated tensions involving such things as race, ethnicity, social class, political party, religion, and even gender. Urban celebrations in these cities often turned violent, with incidents marked by ethnic conflict, racial turmoil, and excessive drunkenness. The celebration of Independence Day became an important political, cultural, and religious ritual on social calendars throughout this time period, and Criblez illustrates how the Midwest adapted cultural developments from outside the region—brought by European immigrants and westward migrants from eastern states like New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The concepts of American homegrown nationalism were forged in the five highlighted midwestern cities, as the new country came to terms with its own independence and how historical memory and elements of zealous and belligerent patriotism came together to construct a new and unique national identity. This ground-breaking book draws on both unpublished sources (including diaries, manuscript collections, and journals) and copious but under-utilized print resources from the region (newspapers, periodicals, travelogues, and pamphlets) to uncover the roots of how the Fourth of July holiday is celebrated today. Criblez's insightful book shows how political independence and republican government was promoted through rituals and ceremonies that were forged in the wake of this historical moment.