viii, 371 pages : 24 cm

There isn't and never has been one America, Colin Woodard argues, but rather several Americas: Yankeedom, New Netherland, the Midlands, Tidewater, Greater Appalachia, the Deep South, New France, El Norte, the Left Coast, the Far West, and First Nation. The original North American colonies were settled by people from distinct regions of the British Islands, and from France, the Netherlands, and Spain, each with unique religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics. Some championed individualism, others utopian social reform. Some believed themselves guided by divine purpose, others freedom of conscience and inquiry. Some embraced an Anglo-Saxon Protestant identity, others ethnic and religious pluralism. Some valued equality and democratic participation, others deference to a traditional aristocratic order. All of them continue to uphold their respective ideals today, with results that can be seen on the composition of the U.S. Congress or the county-by-county election maps of most any competitive presidential election of the past two centuries

Includes bibliographical references and index

Part 1. Origins: 1590 to 1769. Founding El Norte -- Founding New France -- Founding Tidewater -- Founding Yankeedom -- Founding New Netherland -- The colonies' first revolt -- Founding the deep south -- Founding the midlands -- Founding greater Appalachia -- Part 2. Unlikely allies: 1770 to 1815. A common struggle -- Six wars of liberation -- Independence or revolution? -- Nations in the north -- First secessionists -- Part 3. Wars for the west: 1816 to 1877. Yankeedom spreads west -- The midlands spread west -- Appalachia spreads west -- The deep south spreads west -- Conquering El Norte -- Founding the left coast -- War for the west -- Part 4. Culture wars: 1878 to 2010. Founding the far west -- Immigration and identity -- Gods and missions -- Culture clash -- War, empire, and the military -- The struggle for power I: the blue nations -- The struggle for power II: the red and the purple -- Epilogue

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