The Star-Spangled Republic
eBook - ePub

The Star-Spangled Republic

Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Star-Spangled Republic

Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation

About this book

Examining the cosmic conceit at the heart of early American political rhetoric

Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic, Eran Shalev answers this and many other questions, considering the cosmic imagery—so familiar today but so peculiar on reflection—that suffused the United States’ early political culture. In this comprehensive study, Shalev uncovers how “political astronomy”—the discussion and representation of politics through astronomical models, allusions, and metaphors—reflected and facilitated the emerging worldview that enabled Americans to justify and find meaning in the country’s new democratic modes of governance and its federal system. No other scholar has looked at American political rhetoric through this lens; in so doing, Shalev is able to explain in fascinating detail how Americans turned away from the sun of heliocentric monarchy toward the night sky full of federated constellations, and to discover republicanism imprinted in the firmament.

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Yes, you can access The Star-Spangled Republic by Eran Shalev in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Early American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. 1. The American Universe: The Conditioning of Political Astronomers
  9. 2. From the Sun King to Republican Solar Systems: Planetary Politics from the Revolution to the Civil War
  10. 3. The American Constellation: Political Firmaments, Stars, and Flags
  11. Epilogue: The American Star
  12. Notes
  13. Index