Place and Belonging in America

In this analysis, David Jacobson addresses how changing ideals of the landscape have moulded American nationhood and political culture. Covering the sweep of American history, from the Puritans to Lincoln to contemporary national parks and monuments, Jacobson examines how Americans have defined themselves by shaping the land. Americans have commonly assumed that only a people rooted in a bounded territory could safeguard republican virtues. But, as Jacobson argues, in the contemporary world of transnational identities, multiple loyalties and permeable borders, the notion of a singular territorial identity has lost its resonance. The United States has come to represent a diverse quilt of cultures with varying ties to the land. These developments have transformed the character of American politics to one in which the courts take a much larger role in mediating civic life. An expanding web of legal rights enables individuals and groups to pursue their own cultural and social ends, in contrast to the civic republican practice of an active citizenry legislating its collective life. In this far-reaching yet detailed study, we experience the evolution of America’s sense of place, as a nation and as a political model.