Until a few years ago I didn’t know much about Frederick Jackson Turner beyond his having authored the “Frontier Thesis,” which convinced at least four generations of Americans that their… Read more »
Article Topic: Smithsonian
United States’ myth of nationhood is all-important, but it carries a curse
The United States needs its national myth of shared nationhood more than most countries because it’s almost the only thing that has held our rival regional cultures together. But,… Read more »
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author, historian and award-winning journalist. He is the author of seven books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at Maine's Portland Press Herald, he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a 2016 Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.