LIBERTY AND FREEDOM: A Visual History Of America s Founding Ideas.

Fischer, David Hackett

ISBN 10: 0195162536 / ISBN 13: 9780195162530

Published by NY etc~. 2005. Oxford Univ. Press, 2004

blue cloth hardbound 4to ~ 4º (quarto). large & heavy, international or priority shipping will cost extra. dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of all markings. dustwrapper in near fine cond. 1 cm tear on rear, not price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking , underlining, remainder markings etc ~ first edition. first printing ( # 1 in # line).851p. glossy pages throughout. abbreviations. notes. a plan of the series. a plan of the book. acknowledgments. index. America: A Cultural History series # III. illustrated throughout with full color & vintage b&w drawings & photos. american history. philosophy. biography. politics. american literature. ~ LIBERTY AND FREEDOM: MOST AMERICANS agree that these great principles are fundamental to our nation. But what do they mean to us, and how have their meanings changed through time? In this strikingly original book, David Hackett Fischer finds that liberty and freedom~two varying ideas~form the intertwined strand that runs through the core of American life. Like DNA, these notions have recombined in new forms with every generation. Fischer examines liberty and freedom in a new way, not as academic abstractions or political ideologies, but as folkways that are deeply embedded in American life~ what Tocqueville called "habits of the heart." The words themselves, Fischer finds, had different origins. The Latin libertas implied separation and independence. The Indo~European root of "freedom" meant rights of belonging in a community of free people. Most Western languages have a word for either liberty or freedom; English~speakers have both. The tension between them has been a source of conflict and creativity throughout American history. This book studies American ideas of liberty and freedom as visions of an open society, through the symbols they have inspired from the Revolutionary era through 911. Before 1776, a variety of icons appeared throughout the colonies: New England's Liberty Trees, New York's Liberty Poles, Pennsylvania's Liberty Bells, South Carolina's Liberty Crescents, and backcountry rattlesnakes that warned "Don't tread on me." After independence, the search for a common vision inspired new symbols with other meanings: the eagle, the flag, Yankee Doodle, Uncle Sam, Brother Jonathan, and Miss Liberty. In the nineteenth century the nation was riven by a conflict of liberty against freedom, culminating in the Civil War, which transformed both ideas. After the war, larger visions of universal freedom were invented by Americans who had been excluded from a free republic: new immigrants, Indians, and former slaves. The most fertile period of creativity was the twentieth century, when liberty and freedom were tested by enemies abroad and transformed by challenges at home. Today, new visions of a free society are multiplying around the globe. In their dynamism and diversity, these expanding ideas of liberty and freedom have made America and the world more open than any single vision ever was. Illustrated in full color, Liberty and Freedom is literally an eye~opening book ~ large~spirited, stimulating, and, ultimately, inspiring. Seller Inventory # 4051701

Synopsis:

Liberty and freedom: Americans agree that these values are fundamental to our nation, but what do they mean? How have their meanings changed through time? In this new volume of cultural history, David Hackett Fischer shows how these varying ideas form an intertwined strand that runs through the core of American life.
Fischer examines liberty and freedom not as philosophical or political abstractions, but as folkways and popular beliefs deeply embedded in American culture. Tocqueville called them "habits of the heart." From the earliest colonies, Americans have shared ideals of liberty and freedom, but with very different meanings. Like DNA these ideas have transformed and recombined in each generation.
The book arose from Fischer's discovery that the words themselves had differing origins: the Latinate "liberty" implied separation and independence. The root meaning of "freedom" (akin to "friend") connoted attachment: the rights of belonging in a community of freepeople. The tension between the two senses has been a source of conflict and creativity throughout American history.
Liberty & Freedom studies the folk history of those ideas through more than 400 visions, images, and symbols. It begins with the American Revolution, and explores the meaning of New England's Liberty Tree, Pennsylvania's Liberty Bells, Carolina's Liberty Crescent, and "Don't Tread on Me" rattlesnakes. In the new republic, the search for a common American symbol gave new meaning to Yankee Doodle, Uncle Sam, Miss Liberty, and many other icons. In the Civil War, Americans divided over liberty and freedom. Afterward, new universal visions were invented by people who had formerly been excluded from a free society―African Americans, American Indians, and immigrants. The twentieth century saw liberty and freedom tested by enemies and contested at home, yet it brought the greatest outpouring of new visions, from Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms to Martin Luther King's "dream" to Janis Joplin's "nothin' left to lose."
Illustrated in full color with a rich variety of images, Liberty and Freedom is, literally, an eye-opening work of history―stimulating, large-spirited, and ultimately, inspiring.

Review: A fascinating, detailed, and well-written history of how America's founding ideals have been conveyed through images and events. (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice)

...a lavishly illustrated, well-written survey of American cultural history that is a delight to read ... It is provocative, learned and well-argued ... it leaves the reader eagerly awaiting the subsequent volumes in the series. (Frank Cogliano, History Journal)

Bibliographic Details

Title: LIBERTY AND FREEDOM: A Visual History Of ...
Publisher: NY etc~. 2005. Oxford Univ. Press
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Edition: 1st Edition