02985cam a2200313 i 4500 567532067 TxAuBib 20220909120000.0 210921s2022||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2021046120 9780226817613 HRD 25.00 022681761X HRD 25.00 TxAuBib rda Roosevelt, Kermit, 1971-, author. The nation that never was [BOOK] : reconstructing America's story / Kermit Roosevelt III. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2022. 250 pages ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-250). Stories of America -- Questioning the standard story: dissenters -- The exclusive Declaration -- The ambiguous Revolution -- The geostrategic Constitution -- The story of continuity -- The march of the Declaration -- Why we tell the standard story -- Whywe shouldn't tell the standard story -- Magic tricks and revolutions -- Why, how, and who we are -- Redemption songs: inclusive equality and exclusive individualism in modern America -- The better story. There’s a common story we tell about America: that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution. But, with the country increasingly divided, this story isn’t working for us anymore—what’s more, it’s not even true. As Kermit Roosevelt argues in this eye-opening reinterpretation of the American story, our fundamental values, particularly equality, are not part of the vision of the Founders. Instead, they were stated in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and were the hope of Reconstruction, when it was possible to envision the emergence of the nation committed to liberty and equality. We face a dilemma these days. We want to be honest about our history and the racism and oppression that Americans have both inflicted and endured. But we want to be proud of our country, too. In The Nation That Never Was, Roosevelt shows how we can do both those things by realizing we’re not the country we thought we were. Reconstruction, Roosevelt argues, was not a fulfillment of the ideals of the Founding but rather a repudiation: we modern Americans are not the heirs of the Founders but of the people who overthrew and destroyed that political order. This alternate understanding of American identity opens the door to a new understanding of ourselves and our story, and ultimately to a better America. Provided by publisher. 20220909. United States Declaration of Independence. Constitutional history United States. Slavery United States. Equality United States.