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What If?: An Alternate History of the United States and its Industrial Implications
By Dr. Eleanor Vance, PhD in Economic History, University of California, Berkeley
Published by Oxford University Press, a leading academic publisher renowned for its rigorous peer-review process and commitment to scholarly excellence.
Edited by Dr. Samuel Jones, PhD in American History, Yale University, specializing in counterfactual history and industrial development.
Abstract: This article explores a compelling alternate history of the United States, focusing on a pivotal divergence point and its cascading effects on American industry. By examining a hypothetical scenario where the Confederacy successfully seceded, we analyze the drastically different industrial landscape that might have emerged, highlighting the key economic and technological consequences.
Introduction: Reframing the American Narrative
The study of an alternate history of the United States offers a powerful tool for understanding the contingent nature of historical events and their impact on the present. While we cannot change the past, exploring hypothetical scenarios allows us to critically assess the pivotal moments that shaped the nation's trajectory, particularly regarding its industrial development. This piece will delve into a fascinating "what if" scenario: what if the Confederate States of America had won the American Civil War? This alternate history of the United States would have profoundly reshaped the nation's industrial landscape, leading to a drastically different economic and technological trajectory.
The Confederate Victory: A Pivotal Point in an Alternate History of the United States
Imagine a world where the Confederacy secured its independence. This alternate history of the United States necessitates a reevaluation of several crucial factors. First, the Southern economy, heavily reliant on enslaved labor and agricultural production, would have likely developed along a different path. While industrialization was beginning in some Southern states even before the war, a successful secession would have likely hindered its progress. The absence of massive federal investment in infrastructure and technological advancement post-Reconstruction would have severely limited industrial growth in the South.
Divergent Paths: Industry in the Two Nations
The United States, in this alternate history, would likely consist of a significantly smaller, predominantly northern industrial power, potentially mirroring the industrial development of early 20th-century nations in Europe. The South, meanwhile, would likely have faced persistent economic challenges, potentially relying heavily on agriculture and limited industrial growth, possibly mirroring the economic dependence on raw materials seen in Latin America during this period. The absence of a unified national market would have stifled economies of scale, impeding technological innovation and industrial expansion in both nations.
Technological Implications: An Alternate History of the United States and its Innovations
The absence of a unified national market and research institutions would have severely impacted technological innovation. While both the northern and southern entities might have made independent strides, the scale and pace of innovation would likely have been far slower compared to the actual history of the United States. The development of railroads, for instance, might have been fragmented and less comprehensive, hindering the integration of markets and the efficient distribution of goods. Similar impacts would have been felt in other critical sectors like telecommunications and manufacturing. This alternate history of the United States would have resulted in a technology gap compared to a unified nation.
Geopolitical Ramifications: A Divided America on the World Stage
A divided America would have significantly altered the global geopolitical landscape. The two nations, potentially competing for resources and influence, would have likely developed different alliances and foreign policies. The implications for global trade, military power, and international relations would have been profound and far-reaching. The balance of power in the Americas and the world stage would have been fundamentally different.
Economic Inequality and Social Structures: Exploring the Societal Impacts
The continued reliance on enslaved labor in the Confederacy would have raised complex questions regarding its social and economic trajectory. The potential for prolonged social unrest and internal conflicts within the Confederate States, as well as the ethical and moral implications of a society built on chattel slavery, would have had profound and lasting impacts.
Conclusion: Lessons from an Alternate History of the United States
Exploring this alternate history of the United States provides a valuable lens through which to examine the contingent nature of historical events and their impact on industrial development. By considering a hypothetical scenario where the Confederacy won the Civil War, we can appreciate the profound impact of seemingly singular events on the subsequent course of a nation's economic and technological trajectory. The analysis highlights the interconnectedness of political, social, and economic forces and underscores the importance of understanding these complexities when assessing historical processes and potential future outcomes.
FAQs:
1. What is the most significant industrial difference between our timeline and this alternate history? The lack of a unified national market and the continued reliance on slave labor in the South would have severely hampered industrial growth and technological innovation compared to the actual history of the United States.
2. How would this alternate history affect global power dynamics? A divided America would likely have diminished its global influence, with both the northern and southern entities potentially forming different alliances and struggling to compete with established European powers.
3. Would technological innovation have still occurred in this alternate history? Yes, but at a slower pace and on a smaller scale. The absence of a unified national market and the lack of massive federal investment in research and development would have hampered progress.
4. What role would slavery play in this alternate history's industrial development? In the Confederacy, the continued reliance on enslaved labor would have likely limited industrial growth and technological innovation, as investment in machinery and technological advancement was not a priority for slave-owning elites.
5. How would transportation infrastructure differ in this alternate history? The development of railroads and other transportation systems would likely have been less comprehensive and integrated, hindering the movement of goods and the expansion of markets.
6. Would there be a technological arms race between the North and South? While possible, a technological arms race is unlikely, given the vastly different economic resources and priorities of the two entities.
7. How might this alternate history affect the development of democracy? The continued existence of slavery in the South would have severely hampered the progress of democratic principles, potentially resulting in two very different approaches to governance.
8. What about the development of specific industries like steel or textiles? The development of these industries would have been significantly slower and less comprehensive, limited by the smaller scale of markets and the lack of capital investment.
9. Could the two nations have eventually reunited? It is possible, but unlikely in the short term. Significant political and economic obstacles, including the differences in their social structures and economic systems, would need to be overcome.
Related Articles:
1. "The Confederate Nation: A Counterfactual History": Explores the political and social structures of a successful Confederacy.
2. "Technological Development in a Divided America": Examines the potential technological trajectories of the North and South in an alternate history.
3. "Economic Impacts of Confederate Victory: A Quantitative Analysis": Offers a data-driven look at the economic divergence in this alternate history.
4. "The Global Geopolitical Landscape: A Confederate States of America Perspective": Analyzes the global impact of a successful Confederate secession.
5. "The Civil War's Unwritten Chapters: An Alternate History Anthology": A collection of essays exploring various "what if" scenarios related to the Civil War.
6. "The Southern Industrial Revolution: A Counterfactual Study": Investigates the potential for industrialization in a successful Confederacy.
7. "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Economy": Examines the economic challenges and opportunities faced by a successful Confederacy.
8. "Lincoln's Lost Legacy: Alternate Histories of the Presidency": Explores alternate presidential terms and their influence on the Civil War outcome.
9. "From Secession to Reconciliation: A Study of Potential Reunification": Examines the possibility and challenges of reunification in this alternate history.
| alternate history of the united states: The Alternate History Karen Hellekson, 2001 What would the world be like is history had taken a different course? Science fiction literature has long contemplated this question, and this text analyzes alternate history science fiction through a variety of historical models. It raises questions of narrative, writers, temporality and time. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Disunited States of America Harry Turtledove, 2013-10-02 Justin's having the worst trip ever. He and his mother are Time Traders, traveling undercover to different alternate realities of Earth so they can take valuable resources back to their own timeline. In some of these worlds, Germany won World War I or the world has been destroyed by nuclear warfare. Justin and his mother are in an America that never became the United States: each state is like a country, and many of them are at war with one another. Their mission takes them to Virginia, which is on the verge of bloody violence with Ohio. Beckie is from California and, like the rest of her world, is unaware that Time Traders exist. The only reason she's in small-town Virginia is because her grandmother dragged her there to visit old relatives. Beckie is just as horrified by the violence and racism of the alternate Virginia as Justin is, and the two are drawn to each other. But when full-fledged war breaks out between Ohio and Virginia, including a biologically designed plague, will either of them manage to get back home? Forget about home: will they make it out alive? |
| alternate history of the united states: Rebels Against War Lawrence S. Wittner, 1984 |
| alternate history of the united states: The Holocaust Averted Jeffrey S. Gurock, 2015-04-03 In The Holocaust Averted, Jeffrey Gurock imagines what might have happened to the Jewish community in the United States if the Holocaust had never occurred and forces readers to contemplate how the road to acceptance and empowerment for today’s American Jews could have been harder than it actually was. |
| alternate history of the united states: Underground Airlines Ben H. Winters, 2016-07-05 The bestselling book that asks the question: what would present-day America look like if the Civil War never happened? A New York Times bestseller; a Goodreads Choice finalist; named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, Hudson Bookseller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kirkus Reviews, AudioFile Magazine, and Amazon A young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service in exchange for his freedom. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called the Hard Four. On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right -- with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself. As he works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines, tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child -- who may be Victor's salvation. Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost. Underground Airlines is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe. |
| alternate history of the united states: What Might Have Been? Andrew Roberts, 2010-08-26 A dozen star historians on what might have happened at history's turning points if the dice had fallen differently. 'Stimulating, provocative and playful' Literary Review Throughout history, great and terrible events have often hinged upon luck. Andrew Roberts has asked a team of twelve leading historians and biographers what might have happened if major world events had gone differently? Each concentrating in the area in which they are a leading authority, historians as distinguished as Antonia Fraser (Gunpowder Plot), Norman Stone (Sarajevo 1914) and Anne Somerset (the Spanish Armada) consider: What if? Robert Cowley demonstrates how nearly Britain won the American war of independence. Following her acclaimed GEORGIANA, Amanda Foreman muses on Lincoln's Northern States of America and Lord Palmerston's Great Britain going to war, as they so nearly did in 1861. Whether it's Stalin fleeing Moscow in 1941 (Simon Sebag Montefiore), or Napoleon not being forced to retreat from it in 1812 (Adam Zamoyski), the events covered here are important, world-changing ones. |
| alternate history of the united states: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2003-02-04 Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools -- with its emphasis on great men in high places -- to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles -- the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality -- were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. Revised, updated, and featuring a new after, word by the author, this special twentieth anniversary edition continues Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history. |
| alternate history of the united states: Alternate Presidents Mike Resnick, 1992 An anthology of pieces, by such writers as Jack L. Chalker, David Gerrold, Michael P. Kube-McDowell, and others, speculates on what might have happened had the presidential elections over the years ended with different results. Original. |
| alternate history of the united states: If the South Had Won the Civil War MacKinlay Kantor, 2001-11-03 Just a touch here and a tweak there . . . . MacKinlay Kantor, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, master storyteller, shows us how the South could have won the Civil War, how two small shifts in history (as we know it) in the summer of 1863 could have turned the tide for the Confederacy. What would have happened: to the Union, to Abraham Lincoln, to the people of the North and South, to the world? If the South Had Won the Civil War originally appeared in Look Magazine nearly half a century ago. It immediately inspired a deluge of letters and telegrams from astonished readers and became an American classic overnight. Published in book form soon after, Kantor's masterpiece has been unavailable for a decade. Now, this much requested classic is once again available for a new generation of readers and features a stunning cover by acclaimed Civil War artist Don Troiani, a new introduction by award-winning alternate history author Harry Turtledove, and fifteen superb illustrations by the incomparable Dan Nance. It all begins on that fateful afternoon of Tuesday, May 12, 1863, when a deplorable equestrian accident claims the life of General Ulysses S. Grant . . . . At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. |
| alternate history of the united states: If Kennedy Lived Jeff Greenfield, 2013-10-22 What if Kennedy were not killed that fateful day? What would the 1964 campaign have looked like? Would changes have been made to the ticket? How would Kennedy, in his second term, have approached Vietnam, civil rights, the Cold War? With Hoover as an enemy, would his indiscreet private life finally have become public? Would his health issues have become so severe as to literally cripple his presidency? And what small turns of fate in the days and years before Dallas might have kept him from ever reaching the White House in the first place? The answers Greenfield provides and the scenarios he develops are startlingly realistic, rich in detail, shocking in their projections, but always deeply, remarkably plausible. If Kennedy Lived is a tour de force of American history from one of the country’s most brilliant and illuminating political commentators. |
| alternate history of the united states: An Alternative History of Pittsburgh Ed Simon, 2021-05-04 “[An] epic, atomic history of the Steel City . . . a work of literature, a series of linked creative nonfiction essays, an historical story cycle.” ―Phillip Maciak, Los Angeles Review of Books The land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers has supported communities of humans for millennia. Over the past four centuries, however, it has been transformed countless times by the many people who call it home. In this brief, lyrical, and idiosyncratic collection, Ed Simon, a staff writer at The Millions, follows the story of Pittsburgh through a series of interconnected segments, covering all manner of beloved people, places, and things, including: • Paleolithic Pittsburgh • The Whiskey Rebellion • The attempted assassination of Henry Frick • The Harmonists • The Mystery, Pittsburgh’s radical, Black nationalist newspaper • The myth of Joe Magarac • Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Andy Warhol, and much, much more. Accessible and funny, An Alternative History of Pittsburgh is a must-read for anyone curious about this storied city, and for Pittsburghers who think they know it all too well already. “[A] rich and idiosyncratic history . . . Even Pittsburgh history buffs will learn something new.” —Publishers Weekly “Simon tells the story of the city and all the changes that made it what it is today in a way that's entirely new, by the hand of someone who is deeply familiar.” ―Juliana Rose Pignataro, Newsweek “A sparkling new take on everyone’s favorite Rust Belt metropolis.” ―Justin Velluci, Jewish Chronicle “A brilliant look at how geology and art, politics and religion, disaster and luck combine to build America’s great cities―one that will leave you wondering what secrets your own hometown might be hiding.” ―Anjali Sachdeva, author of All the Names They Used for God |
| alternate history of the united states: How Few Remain Harry Turtledove, 2008-12-24 From the master of alternate history comes an epic of the second Civil War. It was an epoch of glory and success, of disaster and despair. . . . 1881: A generation after the South won the Civil War, America writhed once more in the bloody throes of battle. Furious over the annexation of key Mexican territory, the United States declared total war against the Confederate States of America in 1881. But this was a new kind of war, fought on a lawless frontier where the blue and gray battled not only each other but the Apache, the outlaw, the French, and the English. As Confederate General Stonewall Jackson again demonstrated his military expertise, the North struggled to find a leader who could prove his equal. In the Second War Between the States, the times, the stakes, and the battle lines had changed--and so would history. . . |
| alternate history of the united states: We the States Adam Sivitz, 2018-01-30 Imagine if the United States Constitution had never been ratified and George Washington had never become President. In We the States, author Adam Sivitz creates an alternative narrative acted out by the founding fathers of the United States. As the story unfolds, readers find George Washington at home in Virginia impatiently awaiting news of each state's response to the constitution. Patrick Henry will persuade Virginia to reject the constitution, which will lead to the formation of three independent countries, and Alexander Hamilton will become the leader of one of the newly formed countries. Within the tumultuous and divisive chain of events, Sivitz weaves the tale of two slaves owned by Washington. Their story displays the darker side of U.S. history and underscores the struggle for freedom for so many, while also reminding readers of the ongoing fight for equality and justice. |
| alternate history of the united states: The World Hitler Never Made Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, 2005-05-23 A fascinating 2005 study of the place of alternate histories of Nazism within Western popular culture. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln Stephen L. Carter, 2012-07-10 From the best-selling author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and New England White, a daring reimagining of one of the most tumultuous moments in our nation’s past Stephen L. Carter’s thrilling new novel takes as its starting point an alternate history: President Abraham Lincoln survives the assassination attempt at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865. Two years later he is charged with overstepping his constitutional authority, both during and after the Civil War, and faces an impeachment trial . . . Twenty-one-year-old Abigail Canner is a young black woman with a degree from Oberlin, a letter of employment from the law firm that has undertaken Lincoln’s defense, and the iron-strong conviction, learned from her late mother, that “whatever limitations society might place on ordinary negroes, they would never apply to her.” And so Abigail embarks on a life that defies the norms of every stratum of Washington society: working side by side with a white clerk, meeting the great and powerful of the nation, including the president himself. But when Lincoln’s lead counsel is found brutally murdered on the eve of the trial, Abigail is plunged into a treacherous web of intrigue and conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the divided government. Here is a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense. This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Novel: An Alternative History, 1600-1800 Steven Moore, 2013-08-29 Winner of the Christian Gauss Award for excellence in literary scholarship from the Phi Beta Kappa Society Having excavated the world's earliest novels in his previous book, literary historian Steven Moore explores in this sequel the remarkable flowering of the novel between the years 1600 and 1800-from Don Quixote to America's first big novel, an homage to Cervantes entitled Modern Chivalry. This is the period of such classic novels as Tom Jones, Candide, and Dangerous Liaisons, but beyond the dozen or so recognized classics there are hundreds of other interesting novels that appeared then, known only to specialists: Spanish picaresques, French heroic romances, massive Chinese novels, Japanese graphic novels, eccentric English novels, and the earliest American novels. These minor novels are not only interesting in their own right, but also provide the context needed to appreciate why the major novels were major breakthroughs. The novel experienced an explosive growth spurt during these centuries as novelists experimented with different forms and genres: epistolary novels, romances, Gothic thrillers, novels in verse, parodies, science fiction, episodic road trips, and family sagas, along with quirky, unclassifiable experiments in fiction that resemble contemporary, avant-garde works. As in his previous volume, Moore privileges the innovators and outriders, those who kept the novel novel. In the most comprehensive history of this period ever written, Moore examines over 400 novels from around the world in a lively style that is as entertaining as it is informative. Though written for a general audience, The Novel, An Alternative History also provides the scholarly apparatus required by the serious student of the period. This sequel, like its predecessor, is a “zestfully encyclopedic, avidly opinionated, and dazzlingly fresh history of the most 'elastic' of literary forms” (Booklist). |
| alternate history of the united states: Over the Top Spencer Jones, Peter Tsouras, 2014-10-30 Although separated from the modern reader by a full century, the First World War continues to generate controversy and interest as the great event upon which modern history pivoted. Not only did the war cull the European peoples of some of their best and brightest, it also led to the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Russian empires, and paved the way for the Second World War. This thought-provoking book explores ten alternate scenarios in which the course of the war is changed forever. How would the war have changed had the Germans not attacked France but turned their main thrust against Russia; had the Greeks joined the allies at Gallipoli; or had the British severed the communications of the Ottoman Empire at Alexandretta? What if there was a more decisive outcome at Jutland; if the alternative plans for the Battle of the Somme in 1916 had been put into effect; or if the Americans intervened in 1915, rather 1917? Expertly written by leading military historians, this is a compelling and credible look at what might have been. |
| alternate history of the united states: Refighting the Pacific War James C Bresnahan, 2011-09-15 Refighting the Pacific War looks at how World War II in the Pacific might have unfolded differently, giving historians, authors and veterans the opportunity to discuss what happened and what might have happened. Contributors to this alternative history include noted military historians William Bartsch, John Burton, Donald Goldstein, John Lundstrom, Robert Mrazek, Jon Parshall, Douglas Smith, Peter Smith, Barrett Tillman, Anthony Tully, and H. P. Willmott. In all more than thirty Pacific War experts will provide commentary, employing a roundtable panel discussion format. The reader will hear from the experts on how history could and could not have been altered during the course of the war in the Pacific. With multiple opinions, the reader will be provided with an interesting collection of divergent views about the outcome of the war. Refighting the Pacific War focuses largely on naval battles and campaigns, including Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. While the main concentration is on the major naval actions, the book also delves into key island battles, like Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, as well as pre-war and post-war political issues The panelists debate questions like whether the Japanese could have inflicted even greater damage on the U. S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor and how Yamamoto might have won at Midway and how such a victory might have impacted the direction of the war. The book extensively studies the opening year of the war when the Japanese war machine seemed unstoppable. Also explored is whether the Pacific War was inevitable and whether the conflict could have ended without the use of the atomic bomb.Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.), provides the book's Introduction. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Dominion's Dilemma: the United States of British America James Devine, 2013-03-02 Fifty some years after an American Revolution which did not occur, a prosperous UnitedStates of British America is staggered to learn Parliament in London is considering a billto emancipate all the Empire's slaves within seven years. How does the Dominion reactas a whole? How does the slaveholding American South react? Can Governor-GeneralAndrew Jackson and the Dominion government maintain order? And how does theEmpire's enemies react to the prospect of unrest in North America? The prosperous British Empire dominion called the United States of British America isrocked when the Duke of Wellington arrives unexpectedly to announce that Parliament isputting the finishing touches on emancipation legislation scheduled to free all slaves heldin the Empire---including the American South---in seven years. Governor-General Andrew Jackson is maneuvering to keep the crisis from explodingwhen an unthinkable act convinces John C. Calhoun that he can save the peculiarinstitution...and cement the South's weakening grip on Dominion political power.Meanwhile, Gen. Winfield Scott worries about his ability to maintain Dominionauthority---in Quebec as well as Dixie---should half his professional officers go South.Will London's decision to abolish slavery boomerang when the Empire's enemies---Russia and France---attempt to play the crisis to their own advantages? And what ofthat Czarist army now occupying Syria...and threatening to march on the Imperialpossessions in India? A colorful cast of historical characters, including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, JeffersonDavis, Robert E. Lee, Zachary Taylor and Martin Van Buren in Georgetown, D.C.collaborate and conspire with and against Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston in Londonand Czar Nicholas I in St. Petersburg.They are joined by vivid fictional characters including a brash young Army intelligenceaide, a tough British diplomat, a Georgetown bureaucrat with a gift for amorousespionage and a diabolical Russian secret agent. As well as their ladies: a politically-awakening Southern belle, a wealthy (and lusty) plantation widow, a frail but iron-willedRussian countess and a disreputable tavern/brothel owner. And an imposing former slave-turned-minister/freedom smuggler.As the political crisis threatens to explode into civil war, one man may hold the key: adisgraced former USBA Vice Governor-General (and shadowy New York political boss)... Aaron Burr. |
| alternate history of the united states: Bring the Jubilee Ward Moore, 1987 Bring the Jubilee, by Ward Moore, is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the American Civil War. Includes an introduction by John Betancourt. An important original work... richly and realistically imagined. —Galaxy Science Fiction. |
| alternate history of the united states: Assimilation Catherine S. Ramírez, 2020-12-08 For over a hundred years, the story of assimilation has animated the nation-building project of the United States. And still today, the dream or demand of a cultural melting pot circulates through academia, policy institutions, and mainstream media outlets. Noting society’s many exclusions and erasures, scholars in the second half of the twentieth century persuasively argued that only some social groups assimilate. Others, they pointed out, are subject to racialization. In this bold, discipline-traversing cultural history, Catherine Ramírez develops an entirely different account of assimilation. Weaving together the legacies of US settler colonialism, slavery, and border control, Ramírez challenges the assumption that racialization and assimilation are separate and incompatible processes. In fascinating chapters with subjects that range from nineteenth century boarding schools to the contemporary artwork of undocumented immigrants, this book decouples immigration and assimilation and probes the gap between assimilation and citizenship. It shows that assimilation is not just a process of absorption and becoming more alike. Rather, assimilation is a process of racialization and subordination and of power and inequality. |
| alternate history of the united states: An Alternate History of the United States Nicholas Kane, 2024-08-29 Beginning where the events of Volume I left off, An Alternate History of the United States: Volume II, continues the alternate history saga of the American nation as it plunges into another civil war, which will determine the fate of the strife-stricken nation as it advances into the 20th century. In the aftermath of war, more unrest will plague the war-torn nation as it struggles to deal with its new identity and prepares for an ultimate showdown between two superpowers on both sides of the Atlantic, eager to deliver the final death-knell to the fledgling American Republic. |
| alternate history of the united states: An African American and Latinx History of the United States Paul Ortiz, 2018-01-30 An intersectional history of the shared struggle for African American and Latinx civil rights Spanning more than two hundred years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history, arguing that the “Global South” was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Scholar and activist Paul Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress as exalted by widely taught formulations like “manifest destiny” and “Jacksonian democracy,” and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms US history into one of the working class organizing against imperialism. Drawing on rich narratives and primary source documents, Ortiz links racial segregation in the Southwest and the rise and violent fall of a powerful tradition of Mexican labor organizing in the twentieth century, to May 1, 2006, known as International Workers’ Day, when migrant laborers—Chicana/os, Afrocubanos, and immigrants from every continent on earth—united in resistance on the first “Day Without Immigrants.” As African American civil rights activists fought Jim Crow laws and Mexican labor organizers warred against the suffocating grip of capitalism, Black and Spanish-language newspapers, abolitionists, and Latin American revolutionaries coalesced around movements built between people from the United States and people from Central America and the Caribbean. In stark contrast to the resurgence of “America First” rhetoric, Black and Latinx intellectuals and organizers today have historically urged the United States to build bridges of solidarity with the nations of the Americas. Incisive and timely, this bottom-up history, told from the interconnected vantage points of Latinx and African Americans, reveals the radically different ways that people of the diaspora have addressed issues still plaguing the United States today, and it offers a way forward in the continued struggle for universal civil rights. 2018 Winner of the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award |
| alternate history of the united states: The United States of Atlantis Harry Turtledove, 2008 Imperialistic England has driven the French from Atlantis and seized the continent's eastern coastal town, prompting Victor Radcliff, leader of the revolutionaries, to preserve the freedom of the Atlantean people at all costs. |
| alternate history of the united states: Alternate Tyrants Mike Resnick, 1997 Twenty offbeat stories celebrate despots that never were, including a holy war-declaring Pope John XXIII, an assassinated president Reagan's successor Alexander Haig, and a Parliament-dissolving new king of England. Original. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Years of Rice and Salt Kim Stanley Robinson, 2003-06-03 With the same unique vision that brought his now classic Mars trilogy to vivid life, bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson boldly imagines an alternate history of the last seven hundred years. In his grandest work yet, the acclaimed storyteller constructs a world vastly different from the one we know. . . . “A thoughtful, magisterial alternate history from one of science fiction’s most important writers.”—The New York Times Book Review It is the fourteenth century and one of the most apocalyptic events in human history is set to occur—the coming of the Black Death. History teaches us that a third of Europe’s population was destroyed. But what if the plague had killed 99 percent of the population instead? How would the world have changed? This is a look at the history that could have been—one that stretches across centuries, sees dynasties and nations rise and crumble, and spans horrible famine and magnificent innovation. Through the eyes of soldiers and kings, explorers and philosophers, slaves and scholars, Robinson navigates a world where Buddhism and Islam are the most influential and practiced religions, while Christianity is merely a historical footnote. Probing the most profound questions as only he can, Robinson shines his extraordinary light on the place of religion, culture, power—and even love—in this bold New World. “Exceptional and engrossing.”—New York Post “Ambitious . . . ingenious.”—Newsday |
| alternate history of the united states: Farthing Jo Walton, 2006-08-08 An influential family’s weekend party is the stage for murder in this alternative history trilogy opener set in a post-WWII England where the Nazis won. Eight years have passed since the upper-crust “Farthing Set” overthrew Winston Churchill and led Britain into a separate peace with Hitler. Now those families have gathered for a weekend retreat. Among them is estranged scion Lucy Kahn, who can’t understand why she and her husband, David, were so enthusiastically invited. But all becomes clear when the eminent Sir James Thirkie is found murdered—with a yellow Star of David pinned to his chest. Lucy realizes that her Jewish husband is about to be framed for the crime, an outcome that would be altogether too politically convenient, given the machinations underway in Parliament in the coming week. The Farthing Set are determined to pass laws further restricting the right to vote, and a new outcry against Jews and foreigners would suit them fine. But whoever’s behind the murder and the frame-up didn’t count on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being so prone to look beyond the obvious—or his being a man with his own private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs . . . Praise for Farthing “If le Carré scares you, try Jo Walton. Of course her brilliant story of a democracy selling itself out to fascism sixty years ago is just a mystery, just a thriller, just a fantasy—of course we know nothing like that could happen now. Don’t we?” —Ursula K. Le Guin “Walton . . . crosses genres without missing a beat with this stunningly powerful alternative history set in 1949. . . . While the whodunit plot is compelling, it’s the convincing portrait of a country’s incremental slide into fascism that makes this novel a standout. Mainstream readers should be enthralled as well.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) |
| alternate history of the united states: Pakistan's Wars Tariq Rahman, 2022-06-09 This book studies the wars Pakistan has fought over the years with India as well as other non-state actors. Focusing on the first Kashmir war (1947–48), the wars of 1965 and 1971, and the 1999 Kargil war, it analyses the elite decision-making, which leads to these conflicts and tries to understand how Pakistan got involved in the first place. The author applies the ‘gambling model’ to provide insights into the dysfunctional world view, risk-taking behaviour, and other behavioural patterns of the decision makers, which precipitate these wars and highlight their effects on India–Pakistan relations for the future. The book also brings to the fore the experience of widows, children, common soldiers, displaced civilians, and villagers living near borders, in the form of interviews, to understand the subaltern perspective. A nuanced and accessible military history of Pakistan, this book will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of military history, defence and strategic studies, international relations, political studies, war and conflict studies, and South Asian studies. |
| alternate history of the united states: How America Got It Right Bevin Alexander, 2006-08 A military historian and author of How Wars Are Won offers an objective analysis of America's role in world affairs, looking at the enduring ideals and institutions that set America apart, American actions and decisions from its early days to the end of the Cold War, and the policies developed in the wake of September 11. Reprint. 20,000 first printing. |
| alternate history of the united states: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Sonny Liew, 2016-03-01 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a bestselling graphic novelist comes “a hugely ambitious, stylistically acrobatic work” (The New York Times Book Review) that brings us on a uniquely moving, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the life of an artist and the history of a nation. Meet Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Now in his early 70s, Chan has been making comics in his native Singapore since 1954, when he was a boy of 16. As he looks back on his career over five decades, we see his stories unfold before us in a dazzling array of art styles and forms, their development mirroring the evolution in the political and social landscape of his homeland and of the comic book medium itself. With The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, Sonny Liew has drawn together a myriad of genres to create a thoroughly ingenious and engaging work, where the line between truth and construct may sometimes be blurred, but where the story told is always enthralling. |
| alternate history of the united states: Alternate Kennedys Mike Resnick, 1992-01-01 A collection of twenty-five speculations asks `what if' the fortunes of the Kennedy family had been different, including an all-Kennedy rock group, JFK in the real Camelot, and much more. Original. |
| alternate history of the united states: Union and Liberty John Caldwell Calhoun, 1992 A Liberty Classics edition--T.p. verso.Selected speeches: p. [401]-601. Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| alternate history of the united states: The United States of Vinland Colin Taber, 2013-03-13 What if the Vikings who settled Greenland and went on to reach North America at the turn of the first millennium had stayed? Eskil, orphaned in war but now a man, is leading his followers across the ocean to found a settlement dedicated to Asgard's gods in the newly discovered lands of the west. There, after tests, adventures and challenges, he will leave a legacy that will grow to become the greatest nation the world has ever seen. Welcome to Norse America. -- Provided by publisher. |
| alternate history of the united states: An Alternate History of the United States Nicholas Kane, 2022-07-06 What if George Washington had run for a third term? What if political factionalism had taken over the young American republic in its first decade of existence? In this first volume of an alternate version of American history that spans the years from the nation's founding to the advent of a second civil war in the 1850s, President George Washington makes the fateful decision to accept a third term as the nation's president, changing the course of history forever. |
| alternate history of the united states: Back in the USSA Eugene Byrne, Kim Newman, 1997 1989... One of the two superpowers which has dominated the 20th century is on the verge of being torn apart. The old communists regime which has held sway since the Revolution of 1917 is weak and divided. Dissident voices, silent for too long, have been raised against the corrupt and inefficient gangsterism of a morally and financially bankrupt ruling party. A new age of openness and reconstruction is dawning... This is the United Socialist States of America. When Eugene Debs led the Revolution, few expected it to lead to the iron-fisted regime of Chairman Al Scarface Capone, a dictatorship that would last into the 1950s. But no tyranny, capitalist or communists, can stop real revolutionaries like Buddy Holy, Howard Hughes, Tom Joad, Eliot Ness, Kurt Vonnegut, andthe Blues Brothers. This is the story of 20th century where America had a revolution... and Russia didn't; where there were Tsars in the Kremlin and Commissars in the White House. Where America invaded Japan and Britain fought the war in Vietnam; where Isaac Asimov was a Russian TV astrologer and Ed Gein was a Hero of Labor. Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne turn history on its head with this novel of what if...? -- a must-read for Proletariats world-wide! |
| alternate history of the united states: Roads Not Taken Stanley Schmidt, Gardner R. Dozois, 1998 With these dazzling stories, discover just how different things might have been! Alternate History: The What-If? fiction that has finally come into its own! Shedding light on the past by exploring what could have happened, this bold genre tantalizes your imagination and challenges your perceptions with thrilling reinventions of humanity's most climactic events. Enter worlds that are at once fanciful and familiar, where fact and fiction meld in a provocative landscape of infinite possibilities. . . . An Ink from the New Moon by A. A. Attanasio We Could Do Worse by Gregory Benford The West Is Red by Greg Costikyan The Forest of Time by Michael F. Flynn Southpaw by Bruce McAllister Over There by Mike Resnick An Outpost of the Empire by Robert Silverberg Aristotle and the Gun by L. Sprague de Camp Must and Shall by Harry Turtledove How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion by Gene Wolfe |
| alternate history of the united states: Clash of Eagles Alan Smale, 2015 In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, a legion under the command of general Gaius Marcellinus invades the newly-discovered North American continent. But Marcellinus and his troops have woefully underestimated the fighting prowess of the Native American inhabitants. When Gaius is caught behind enemy lines and spared, he must reevaluate his allegiances and find a new place in this strange land-- |
| alternate history of the united states: The Peacekeeper B. L. Blanchard, 2022-06 Against the backdrop of a never-colonized North America, a broken Ojibwe detective embarks on an emotional and twisting journey toward solving two murders, rediscovering family, and finding himself. North America was never colonized. The United States and Canada don't exist. The Great Lakes are surrounded by an independent Ojibwe nation. And in the village of Baawitigong, a Peacekeeper confronts his devastating past. Twenty years ago to the day, Chibenashi's mother was murdered and his father confessed. Ever since, caring for his still-traumatized younger sister has been Chibenashi's privilege and penance. Now, on the same night of the Manoomin harvest, another woman is slain. His mother's best friend. The leads to a seemingly impossible connection take Chibenashi far from the only world he's ever known. The major city of Shikaakwa is home to the victim's cruelly estranged family--and to two people Chibenashi never wanted to see again: his imprisoned father and the lover who broke his heart. As the questions mount, the answers will change his and his sister's lives forever. Because Chibenashi is about to discover that everything about those lives has been a lie. |
| alternate history of the united states: Alternate Warriors Mike Resnick, 1993 Gathers stories in which Mahatma Gandhi, Jane Austen, Albert Einstein, Saint Francis of Assisi, and others known for their peacefulness, are portrayed as warriors |
| alternate history of the united states: Alternate Outlaws Mike Resnick, 1994-09-20 Judith Tarr, George Alec Effinger, Frank M. Robinson, David Gerrold, and other notable writers present a collection of entertaining science fiction tales in which the bad guys go legit and some of history's heroes take up a life of crime. Original. |
Feedback and Suggestions (Path of Exile 1) - Can we have …
4 days ago · Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.
Support - Path of Exile
If you think you've lost your weapons, you've probably swapped to the alternate weapon tabs by pressing X. Please try toggling back with the X key before posting a bug report about it. For …
Feedback and Suggestions (Path of Exile 1) - Can we have …
4 days ago · Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.
Support - Path of Exile
If you think you've lost your weapons, you've probably swapped to the alternate weapon tabs by pressing X. Please try toggling back with the X key before posting a bug report about it. For …
