Dreams of a More Perfect Union

"Why and how did Americans perceive themselves as one people from the early history of the republic? How did African Americans and others at the margins of U.S. civic culture apply this concept of union? Why did the term disappear from use after the 1880s? In his search for answers, Kersh employs a wide range of methods, including political-theory analysis of writings by James Madison, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln and empirical analysis drawing on his own extensive database of American newspapers. The author's findings are persuasive - and often surprising. One intriguing development, for instance, was a strong resurgence of union feelings among Southerners - including prominent former secessionists - after the Civil War.".