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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: August 20, 2020 at 10:56:04 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-War]: Flores de Apodaca on Langley, 'The Long > American Revolution and Its Legacy' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Lester D. Langley. The Long American Revolution and Its Legacy. > Athens University of Georgia Press, 2019. 312 pp. $99.00 (cloth), > ISBN 978-0-8203-5576-4. > > Reviewed by Roberto Flores de Apodaca (University of South Carolina) > Published on H-War (August, 2020) > Commissioned by Margaret Sankey > > The proper chronology for understanding and teaching the American > Revolution, or the first half of US history generally, is being > contested. Historians prefer to begin their narrative at different > points, depending on the themes they wish to emphasize moving through > the history. Indeed, recent scholars have argued that the Revolution > ought not to be the focal point of teaching this nation's history at > all, but rather the year 1619 and the advent of African slavery in > North America. _The Long Argument _makes its own unique contribution > to this debate by beginning with the North American imperial crisis > in the 1750s and moving all the way through the Great War and the > Progressive movement of the 1920s. Such a chronology, Lester D. > Langley argues, demonstrates that America is "an _old _republic but a > _young _nation" (p. 6). The Revolution is best understood not as a > flashbang event but a struggle between the ideals of equality > espoused during the Revolution and the country's "embedded > prejudices" that have precluded their fulfillment. Moreover, Langley > uses this chronology to argue that the Revolution did not birth one > nation but three: the Confederacy in 1861, the United States in the > Great War, and even Canada during the same decades. > > This book contains an introduction, eight chapters, and an epilogue > that span this 132-year period. As the book moves quickly through the > many notable events, the author strikes a skillful balance between > social and political history. For example, when discussing the > meaning of 1776, he notes that to John Adams it was about a strong > executive and republicanism while to Thomas Jefferson it was about > democracy, and to ordinary women and enslaved persons it was an > opportunity to assert themselves. The book traces this internal > struggle of Revolutionary principles all the way until the Great War, > when America achieved its ideal of nationhood via white supremacy, > economic inequities, and male dominance disguised by "rhetoric of > liberation, nation building, and moral improvement" (p. 211). > > A great strength of the work is its international and comparative > perspective. Langley does an excellent job of contrasting the various > revolutions. For example, he provides expert analysis in comparing > the role of race and people of color in both the American and Spanish > revolutions. Simon Bolivar was willing to mobilize the enslaved and > give them a subordinate place in the new republic, while George > Washington and the United States were not. Such a contrast > illuminates two distinct trajectories in terms of race in these > countries. Langley not only compares the various revolutions but even > documents their interdependence. He highlights how ideas and > movements in the French Revolution were operative in the Haitian > Revolution and how those ideas in turn affected the minds of southern > plantation owners and enslaved people in the North American South and > even influenced Jefferson's decision to buy the Louisiana territory. > This broad perspective is operative throughout the book and places it > squarely within the burgeoning historical trend to understand the > American Revolution beyond a parochial sense and place it rather in a > continental or Atlantic context. > > This international perspective does, perhaps by design, eclipse much > scholarship on other important topics, like histories of religion, > the military conflict, and slave revolts. While religion does appear > briefly at some points, it is of minor importance to the telling of > this narrative. For instance, there is little discussion of the role > Quakerism played in the abolitionist movement and even less of the > role of Mormons in the chapter on westward expansion. The book also > glosses over many military conflicts and slave revolts to tell more > about their idealogical importance or legacies rather than the > details of what happened. Less than a page is devoted to Nat Turner's > revolt, and few military battles in any of the three wars covered in > this book are mentioned, let alone detailed. > > Langley provides an excellent bibliographical essay and historical > time line that will be much appreciated by seasoned scholars and > graduate students preparing for their comprehensive exams. The > sixteen-page bibliographic essay is more than a litany of relevant > scholarship; it is a masterful and balanced account of different > schools and eras of historiography. Impressively, Langley shows as > much mastery over works that did not influence his interpretations as > those that did. Combined with the time line, these appendages provide > excellent tools for researching, understanding, and teaching the Long > American Revolution. > > The book begins and ends with personal reflections and how they > relate to the themes spelled out in the _Long American Revolution_. > Such anecdotes put flesh and bones on the ideas delineated in the > book. Langley's own parents embodied the "promise and opportunity" > that many found in America, as well as the oppressive "racial > priorities" felt by others. (p. 1). In the epilogue, he uses the > anecdotes of three women he encountered while traveling between > Chicago and Mexico City to demonstrate how alive and relevant the > "contested legacy of the American Revolution" remains (p. 218). > > This book provides expert analysis and unique contributions to survey > histories of the American Revolution. It does the important work of > incorporating recent trends and emphases on social and Atlantic > history. The broad time line for understanding the trajectory of the > country is likely to have significant influence on how we understand > the American Revolution. > > Citation: Roberto Flores de Apodaca. Review of Langley, Lester D., > _The Long American Revolution and Its Legacy_. H-War, H-Net Reviews. > August, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55104 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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