Born in Blood : Violence and the Making of America

Born in Blood investigates one of history's most violent undertakings: The United States of America. People the world over consider violence in the United States as measurably different than that which troubles the rest of the globe, citing reasons including gun culture, the American West, Hollywood, the death penalty, economic inequality, rampant individualism, and more. This compelling examination of American violence explains a political culture of violence from the American Revolution to the Gilded Age, illustrating how physical force, often centered on racial hierarchy, sustained the central tenets of American liberal government. It offers an important story of nationhood, told through the experiences and choices of civilians, Indians, politicians, soldiers, and the enslaved, providing historical context for understanding how violence has shaped the United States from its inception. Cover Half-title page Title page Copyright page Dedication Epigraph Contents List of Figures Introduction A System of Violence: Liberal Society in the United States Part I Early Manifestations 1 A Revolution Restrained 2 Life in the Army of the Continent 3 The Code of American Violence Part II Evolutions 4 The 1850s: A People’s Government and the Politics of Belligerence 5 The United States Greets John Brown 6 1860: The Undisputed Election that Sparked Dispute 7 Emancipation’s Fury Part III Modern Traditions 8 To 1877: American Capitalism and the Geography of Violence 9 Layering Law and Resistance in the Great Strikes 10 Words and Ropes: The Postwar Battles over Racial Order Epilogue Acknowledgements Notes Index