Details

The Battle over America's Origin Story


The Battle over America's Origin Story

Legends, Amateurs, and Professional Historiographers

von: Brian Regal

117,69 €

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan
Format: PDF
Veröffentl.: 06.05.2022
ISBN/EAN: 9783030995386
Sprache: englisch
Anzahl Seiten: 325

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Beschreibungen

<div>This book examines the legends of who ‘really’ discovered America. It argues that histories of America's origins were always based less on empirical evidence and more on social, political, and cultural wish fulfillment. Influenced by a complex interplay of Nativist hatred of immigrants and Aboriginal people, as well as distrust of academic scholarship, these legends ebbed and flowed with changing conditions in wider American society. The book focuses on the actions of a collection of quirky, obsessed amateur investigators who spent their lives trying to prove their various theories by promoting Welsh princes, Vikings, Chinese admirals, Neo-lithic Europeans, African explorers, and others who they say arrived centuries before Columbus. These myths acted as mitigating agencies for those who embraced them.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Along with recent scholarship, this book&nbsp;makes extensive use of archival materials—some of which have never been employed before. It covers the period from the sixteenth century to the present. It brings together separate historiographic ideas to create a unified history rather than focusing on one particular legend as most books on the subject do. It shows how questions of who discovered America helped create the field of historical scholarship in this country. This book does not attempt to prove who discovered America, rather it tells the story of those who think they did.</div><p></p>
<b>Table of Contents:</b><p>Acknowledgements</p>

<p>Introduction: Waiting for Columbus</p>

<p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “Unforeseen and Unforeseeable”</p>

<p>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Legend of Christopher Columbus</p>

<p>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Mound Builders</p>

<p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Saints Preserve Us</p>

<p>5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Viking Theory</p>

<p>6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Lost City of New England</p>

7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Asia and Africa Theories<p></p>

<p>8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Stone Temple Pilots</p>

<p>9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Video Theorists</p>

<p>10.&nbsp;&nbsp; Nellie Horsford’s Last Stand</p>

<p>Conclusion</p>

<p>Bibliography</p>
<b>​</b><b>Brian Regal </b>is Associate Professor of history at Kean University, USA.
This book examines the legends of who ‘really’ discovered America. It argues that histories of America's origins were always based less on empirical evidence and more on social, political, and cultural wish fulfillment. Influenced by a complex interplay of Nativist hatred of immigrants and Aboriginal people, as well as distrust of academic scholarship, these legends ebbed and flowed with changing conditions in wider American society. The book focuses on the actions of a collection of quirky, obsessed amateur investigators who spent their lives trying to prove their various theories by promoting Welsh princes, Vikings, Chinese admirals, Neo-lithic Europeans, African explorers, and others who they say arrived centuries before Columbus. These myths acted as mitigating agencies for those who embraced them.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>Along with recent scholarship, this book&nbsp;makes extensive use of archival materials—some of which have never been employed before. It covers the period from the sixteenth century to the present. It brings together separate historiographic ideas to create a unified history rather than focusing on one particular legend as most books on the subject do. It shows how questions of who discovered America helped create the field of historical scholarship in this country. This book does not attempt to prove who discovered America, rather it tells the story of those who think they did.<div><br></div><div><b>​</b><b>Brian Regal&nbsp;</b>is Associate Professor of history at Kean University, USA.<br><div><br></div></div></div>
<p>Examines the many myths and legends about who ‘really’ discovered America</p><p>Connects the history of American origins to contemporary political debates</p><p>Makes use of archival sources to examine the relationship between professional scholars and amateur investigators</p>

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