Celebrating the Fourth: Independence Day and the Rites of Nationalism in the Early Republic - Softcover

Travers, Len

 
9781558492035: Celebrating the Fourth: Independence Day and the Rites of Nationalism in the Early Republic
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1558492038 ISBN 13: 9781558492035
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999

Synopsis

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.

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About the Author

Len Travers is assistant director of the Center for the Study of New England History at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

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Publisher
University of Massachusetts Press
Publication date
1999
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1558492038
ISBN 13 
9781558492035
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
288

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781558490604: Celebrating the Fourth: Independence Day and the Rites of Nationalism in the Early Republic

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1558490604 ISBN 13:  9781558490604
Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr, 1997
Hardcover