Dissent: The History of an American Idea

by Ralph Young

Overview

Finalist, 2016 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award

One of Bustle's Books For Your Civil Disobedience Reading List

Examines the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States, emphasizing the way Americans responded to injustices

Dissent: The History of an American Idea examines the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States. It focuses on those who, from colonial days to the present, dissented against the ruling paradigm of their time: from the Puritan Anne Hutchinson and Native American chief Powhatan in the seventeenth century, to the Occupy and Tea Party movements in the twenty-first century. The emphasis is on the way Americans, celebrated figures and anonymous ordinary citizens, responded to what they saw as the injustices that prevented them from fully experiencing their vision of America.

At its founding the United States committed itself to lofty ideals. When the promise of those ideals was not fully realized by all Americans, many protested and demanded that the United States live up to its promise. Women fought for equal rights; abolitionists sought to destroy slavery; workers organized unions; Indians resisted white encroachment on their land; radicals angrily demanded an end to the dominance of the moneyed interests; civil rights protestors marched to end segregation; antiwar activists took to the streets to protest the nation’s wars; and reactionaries, conservatives, and traditionalists in each decade struggled to turn back the clock to a simpler, more secure time. Some dissenters are celebrated heroes of American history, while others are ordinary people: frequently overlooked, but whose stories show that change is often accomplished through grassroots activism.

The United States is a nation founded on the promise and power of dissent. In this stunningly comprehensive volume, Ralph Young shows us its history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479819836
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/07/2017
Pages:	640
Sales rank:	538,260
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Ralph Young is Professor of Instruction in History at Temple University. He is the author of Make Art Not War: Political Protest Posters from the Twentieth Century and Dissent in America: The Voices That Shaped a Nation.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Dissent and America 1

1. The “Free Aire of a New World” 17

2. Dissent in an Age of Reason 34

3. Revolution 57

4. Discord in the New Republic 79

5. Slavery and Its Discontents 108

6. Reformers and Dissidents 133

7. Expansion and Conflict 159

8. Dissent Imperils the Union 173

9. A Nation Divides 191

10. Liberation and Suppression 213

11. Protest and Conflict in the West 234

12. Workers of the World Unite! 256

13. The New Manifest Destiny 275

14. Progressives and Radicals 294

15. Making the World Safe for Democracy 327

16. Traditionalism Collides with Modernism 349

17. A New Deal for America 371

18. The Good War? 393

19. Dissent in an Age of Conformity 407

viii k Contents

20. Civil Rights: An American Revolution 424

21. Make Love, Not War 453

22. Mobilization and Backlash 482

23. A New Age of Dissent 501

Conclusion: The Arc of Dissent 520

Notes 523

Bibliography 549

Index 583

About the Author 603

Editorial Reviews

"One of the great merits of Youngs book in his nuanced perspective on events and people that are too often reduced to clichés in our collective memory."

Political Science Quarterly

"[Young] presents a narrative history of the role of dissent in shaping the United States, foregrounding those who dissented and how Americans have responded to injustices that prevented them from fully experiencing their vision of America."

Journal of Economic Literature

"A must-read for anyone interested in how dissent, protest, and other acts of civil disobedience have shaped the United States, Ralph YoungsDissent: The History of an American Ideais a well-researched, 600-plus page tome that covers both the liberal and conservative movements that changed American history"

Bustle.com

"A beautifully written and impressively comprehensive survey of the history of dissent in America."

Thaddeus Russell

"A sweeping, panoramic narrative that is ambitious in nature, and broad and deep in scope. It provides an alternative history of the United Statesindeed of 'America.' It is a historynot from the vantage point of the forgotten or the 'losers,' per sebut from dissenters: those who foughtvaliantly, nobly, with great foresight and insight, and often against overwhelming, even impossible, odds and at great cost to themselvesin order to push, pull, shift, and shape the American world around them."

Glenn Feldman

"[An] expansive and...impressive account...[Young] excels in story-telling mode."

Popmatters

"In deeply conservative times it bears remembering that our nation also has a long and rich history of dissent— one that always pushes our nation to become more just and humane. Ralph Youngs sweeping and powerful account of this history, his rescuing of myriad moments and movements that made our nation fairer and more equal, is a must read for any citizen interested in making a stronger democracy and a better future for our children."

Heather Ann Thompson

"The Temple University historian Ralph Young's Dissent , a beautifully written, always-interesting, and analytically smart synthesis of American history, contends that dissent has shaped our world from the Puritans to the Barack Obama presidency...Here is wishing Young's big book a shelf life as long as the works of Hofstadter, Williams, and Zinn."- Journal of American History

"A wonderfully erudite and lucid introduction to another 'American dream' that inspired millions around the world. A wise and topical invitation to reappraise global image of American culture today, when we are facing renewed struggle for hearts and minds."-Vladislav Zubok,London School of Economics and Politics

“[Young] presents a narrative history of the role of dissent in shaping the United States, foregrounding those who dissented and how Americans have responded to injustices that prevented them from fully experiencing their vision of America.”- Journal of Economic Literature

"[An] expansive and...impressive account...[Young] excels in story-telling mode."- Popmatters

“Young takes his readers on a scenic, energetic, nonlinear walk from the seventeenth-century American Colonies to the present United States, suggesting all along the way that American history is, by definition, a history of dissent… The breadth of the historical account and the level of detail Young offers his readers are inspiring, particularly in an age of what he sees as apathetic, social media-driven ‘slacktivism’ and ‘clicktivism.’”- American Political Thought

“One of the great merits of Young’s book in his nuanced perspective on events and people that are too often reduced to clichés in our collective memory.”- Political Science Quarterly

"Temple University historian Young ( Dissent in America ) delivers a doorstopper that few readers will ever want to misuse in such a manner; his clear and elegant style and a keen eye for good stories make it a page-turner...Young convincingly demonstrates that the history of the United States is inextricably linked to dissent and shows how 'protest is one of the consummate expressions of Americanness.'"- STARRED Publishers Weekly

"French historian Alexis de Tocqueville warned about 'the tyranny of the majority' in American democracy. This work deals with that important topic from colonial times to the present. Young brings experience and knowledge to this subject...This history will satisfy fans of Howard Zinn, Pete Seeger, and Allen Ginsberg."- Library Journal

"A beautifully written and impressively comprehensive survey of the history of dissent in America."-Thaddeus Russell,author of A Renegade History of the United States

From the Publisher

★ 03/02/2015
Temple University historian Young (Dissent in America) delivers a doorstopper that few readers will ever want to misuse in such a manner; his clear and elegant style and a keen eye for good stories make it a page-turner. He takes an elastic view of the concept of dissent, presenting it as anything “going against the grain,” and by not focusing on ideas alone, is able to cover a lot of territory. The result is a work that establishes the “centrality of dissent in American history.” The Puritans had barely arrived in the New World—for their own dissenting religious purposes—when Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson began their agitation against civil and religious authority. Over time, dissent became so widespread and so deeply ingrained in American society that people who shared a cause—for instance, 19th-century advocates for women’s suffrage—disagreed among themselves about the nature and expression of their dissent. Progressive thinkers didn’t have a monopoly on dissent; the Ku Klux Klan arose “to preserve white supremacy,” and, in the 1970s, conservative Christians mobilized to counter 1960s liberalism. Young convincingly demonstrates that the history of the United States is inextricably linked to dissent and shows how “protest is one of the consummate expressions of ‘Americanness.’” Illus. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"The Temple Universityhistorian Ralph Young's Dissent, a beautifully written, always-interesting, and analytically smart synthesis of American history, contends that dissent has shaped our world from the Puritans to the Barack Obama presidency...Here is wishing Young's big book a shelf life as long as the works of Hofstadter, Williams, and Zinn."

Journal of American History

"A wonderfully erudite and lucid introduction to another 'American dream' that inspired millions around the world. A wise and topical invitation to reappraise global image of American culture today, when we are facing renewed struggle for hearts and minds."

Vladislav Zubok

"For those looking for a most impressive compilation on the history of American dissent,Dissentcertainly delivers in covering all of its intricacies, trajectories, and complexities through decades of discord and centuries of stridency."

Journal of American Culture

"Ralph Young takes us on a journey from the distant Puritan past to the cultural divisions of the contemporary age, showing that at every step along the way the nation's most powerful and productive force has been its rich tradition of dissent, the willingness of its citizens to cut against the grain of conformity to help build a fairer, more representative democracy. Marked by fast-paced and engaging prose, and filled with important insights and observations, Dissent may be the most important revisionist history of the nation since Howard Zinn's A People's History."

David M. Wrobel

"Young takes his readers on a scenic, energetic, nonlinear walk from the seventeenth-century American Colonies to the present United States, suggesting all along the way that American history is, by definition, a history of dissent The breadth of the historical account and the level of detail Young offers his readers are inspiring, particularly in an age of what he sees as apathetic, social media-driven & slacktivism and & clicktivism."

American Political Thought

04/01/2015
French historian Alexis de Tocqueville warned about "the tyranny of the majority" in American democracy. This work deals with that important topic from colonial times to the present. Young (history, Temple Univ.; Dissent in America) brings experience and knowledge to this subject as the editor of a prior compilation on the history of dissent and as a professor of that subject. Beginning with an overview from colonial times through the Civil War, the chronicle continues through World War I and concludes with the period between the 1920s to the Occupy Wall Street movement. There is a major emphasis on minorities who were often left out of the American dream (e.g., Native Americans, African Americans, women, workers, conscientious objectors, Latinos, and students) while also including antagonists to these groups. The book's length may undermine its readability and often moving accounts. A more succinct and focused treatment is found in Peter Irons's The Courage of Their Convictions. VERDICT This history will satisfy fans of Howard Zinn, Pete Seeger, and Allen Ginsberg, to whom it's dedicated; conservatives are likely to find it too politically correct.—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Library Journal

2015-03-02
A broad-ranging, evenhanded view of a tradition honed into an art form in America: the use of dissent as "a critique of governance." Americans are very good at complaining about everything under the sun. The stock market may be booming, jobs may be plentiful, and gas may be cheap, but still it's not enough. As Young (History/Temple Univ. Dissent in America: Voices that Shaped a Nation, 2009, etc.) observes, throughout most of our history, the intent of dissenters has been honorable, an expression of "lofty ideals" and loyal opposition. However, often—and increasingly more often, it seems—dissenters are bent on forcing their narrow interests on the larger polity, sometimes in the hope of escaping such burdens as paying taxes, sometimes in the hope that their worldview will be declared the worldview. As Young chronicles, dissent often comes with unintended consequences. In a particularly pointed episode, he notes that slavery entered the American tradition as a means of dismantling a system of white indenture that bred seething resentment wherever it was practiced, with occasionally fatal results. Slaves, it was hoped, would not be so given to dissent, though that premise, too, would be proven false. Young has a knack for finding obscure but thoroughly revealing moments of history to illustrate his points; learning about Fries' Rebellion and the Quasi-War with France is worth the price of admission alone, though his narrative offers much more besides. Of particular interest is the constant shift in American politics between the positions of dissenter and establishmentarian—not just as when, countering secession, West Virginia itself seceded to form a state, but also as when tea party activists get elected to become part of the government they despise, at which point much cognitive dissonance ensues. Refreshingly democratic—solid supplemental reading to the likes of Terkel and Alinsky, insistent on upholding the rights of political minorities even when they're wrong.

Kirkus Reviews