Creating an American Identity (0230605265) KERMES

Creating an American Identity examines the relationship between regionalism and nationalism in New England between 1789 and 1825. During that period New Englanders and their neighbors in New York and Pennsylvania used trans-Atlantic symbols at the same time as a model and an antithesis in the creation of their own national identity. In inventing their collective identity, Northerners not only excluded Europeans, but also Southerners from their vision of America. Widely used visual representations of New England landscapes, virtues, and people created a strong loyalty to the region. Surprisingly, New Englanders utilized their regionalism to forge an American nationalism.

Stephanie Kermes is an Assistant Professor of Social Science at Boston University.

"In this excellent book, Stephanie Kermes makes a signal contribution to cultural history and regional history. She draws on a transatlantic research base, and she offers a host of original insights on the creation of identity in the early national era. All scholars of New England and the early Republic should read this book."

--Joan E. Cashin, editor of Our Common Affairs: Texts from Women in the Old South

"Taken together, these forays into regional consciousness-building add valuable insights into the often schizophrenic development of "American" identity ebfore the Age of Jackson."

--Len Travers, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

"Kernes's book makes an important contribution to our understanding of the relationship between nationa, regional, and local identities in early national America." --Paul E. Teed, Saginaw Valley State University, Michigan

New-Englandizing America * A Prussian Monarch, an American Hero: Early Republican Royalism and Parallels between the Cult of Frederick the Great and Celebrations of the First American President * Failed Republicans: Images of the British and the French * Hero of Liberty: New England Celebrations of General Lafayette during his Visit in 1824-1825 * Separation for the Nation: The Movement for Maine’s Statehood * God’s People: The Creation of a Protestant Nation