The Cousins' Wars Religion, Politics, Civil Warfare, And The Triumph Of Anglo-America

by Phillips, Kevin P

• ISBN13: 9780465013708
• ISBN10: 0465013708
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-07
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

The question at the heart ofThe Cousins' Warsis this: How did Anglo-America evolve over a mere three hundred years from a small Tudor kingdom into a global community with such a hegemonic grip on the world today, while no other European power - Spain, France, Germany, or Russia - did? The answer to this, according to Phillips, lies in a close examination of three internecine English-speaking civil warsNthe English Civil War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. These wars between cousins functioned as crucial anvils on which various religious, ethnic, and political alliances were hammered out between the English-speaking cousin-nations, setting them on a unique two-track path toward world leadership - one aristocratic and aloof to dominate the imperial nineteenth century and the other more egalitarian and democratic to take over in the twentieth century. They also functioned as unfortunate and deadly cultural crucibles for African Americans, Native Americans, and the Irish.Phillips's analysis shows exactly how these conflicts are inextricably linked and how they seeded each other. He offers often surprising interpretations that cut across the political spectrum - for instance, that the Constitution of the United States, while brilliant in many respects, was also a fatally flawed political compromise that contributed mightily in setting the stage for the final - and the bloodiest - cousins' war: the American Civil War.With the new millennium upon us and triggering widespread assessment of our nation's place in world history,The Cousins' Warsprovides just the kind of magisterial sweep and revisionist spark to ignite widespread interest and debate. This grand religious, military, and political epic is the multi-dimensional story of the triumph of Anglo-America.

Author Biography

Kevin Phillips is the bestselling author of eight previous books, including The Politics of Rich and Poor (1990) and The Emerging Republican Majority (1969). He is also a commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times. In 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, he was a national elections commentator for CBS Television News. He lives in West Goshen, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Maps and Figures	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
The Beginnings of Anglo-America and the Setting of the First Cousins' War
The Protestant Background of Anglo-American Expansion and the Cousins' Wars	p. 3
The Early Cousins' Wars
Anglo-America's First Civil Wars: The British Setting, 1630-1763	p. 35
America, 1763-1775: The Inheritance of Revolutionary Conflict	p. 79
The British Empire and Civil War in the Western Hemisphere, 1775-1783	p. 123
The Making of a Revolution: Patriots, Loyalists, and Neutrals	p. 161
Support for the American Revolution Within the British Isles	p. 233
Trauma and Triumph: Saratoga and the Revitalization of the British Empire	p. 269
The Final Cousins' War
Sectionalism, Slavery, and Religion: The Continuity of the Second and Third Cousins' Wars	p. 317
The Final Cousins' Fight: Causes and Origins of the American Civil War	p. 363
The U.S. Civil War: Loyalties, Alignments, and Partisanships, 1861-1865	p. 407
The U.S. Civil War and the Framework of Anglo-America	p. 457
The Triumph of Anglo-America--War, Population, and English Language Hegemony
The Cousins' Wars and the Shaping of Anglo-American Politics	p. 513
Demographic Imperialism: The Second Architecture of Anglo-American Hegemony	p. 561
The English Language: Words as Weaponry?	p. 597
Afterword	p. 609
Appendix 1	p. 613
Appendix 2	p. 615
Appendix 3	p. 618
Notes	p. 632
Bibliography	p. 669
Index	p. 683
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