Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada
This article voices three “heresies” against the nationalist, centralist, and anti-American biases of traditional political history in English Canada, in hopes of opening the way to a more transnational understanding of the Canadian and North American past: Canada’s history is an American history, i...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Centre de Recherches sur les Mondes Américains
2010-03-01
|
| Series: | Nuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/59404 |
| _version_ | 1797307449993068544 |
|---|---|
| author | Robert MacDougall |
| author_facet | Robert MacDougall |
| author_sort | Robert MacDougall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article voices three “heresies” against the nationalist, centralist, and anti-American biases of traditional political history in English Canada, in hopes of opening the way to a more transnational understanding of the Canadian and North American past: Canada’s history is an American history, in constant dialogue with the history of the United States; Canada’s Confederation in 1867 was not an an act of national unification, but a compact between autonomous regions, as French-Canadian historians have long maintained; Canadian federalism is not failing, and in fact represents a remarkably flexible and successful form of government, well suited to Canada’s geography and cultural diversity. Only by rejecting the “narcissism of small differences” and the “solipsism of American exceptionalism” can we foster a truly transnational North American history. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:57:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f7a1969ba6a74712b5974be55df3c622 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1626-0252 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:57:15Z |
| publishDate | 2010-03-01 |
| publisher | Centre de Recherches sur les Mondes Américains |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7a1969ba6a74712b5974be55df3c6222024-02-14T16:51:18ZengCentre de Recherches sur les Mondes AméricainsNuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos1626-02522010-03-0110.4000/nuevomundo.59404Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from CanadaRobert MacDougallThis article voices three “heresies” against the nationalist, centralist, and anti-American biases of traditional political history in English Canada, in hopes of opening the way to a more transnational understanding of the Canadian and North American past: Canada’s history is an American history, in constant dialogue with the history of the United States; Canada’s Confederation in 1867 was not an an act of national unification, but a compact between autonomous regions, as French-Canadian historians have long maintained; Canadian federalism is not failing, and in fact represents a remarkably flexible and successful form of government, well suited to Canada’s geography and cultural diversity. Only by rejecting the “narcissism of small differences” and the “solipsism of American exceptionalism” can we foster a truly transnational North American history.https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/59404North AmericaCanadaPolitical historyNational identity |
| spellingShingle | Robert MacDougall Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada Nuevo mundo - Mundos Nuevos North America Canada Political history National identity |
| title | Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada |
| title_full | Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada |
| title_fullStr | Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada |
| title_short | Towards a Transnational Political History of North America: The View from Canada |
| title_sort | towards a transnational political history of north america the view from canada |
| topic | North America Canada Political history National identity |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/59404 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertmacdougall towardsatransnationalpoliticalhistoryofnorthamericatheviewfromcanada |