Anti-Imperialism and Liberty, by M. Patrick Cullinane

Contextualizing Anti-Imperialism and Liberty, 1877-1898

The years 1877-1898 were consumed with much more than anti-imperialism, and the notions of liberty during this time were constructed from multiple circumstances. During this era the currency standard created "goldbugs" and "silverites," Buffalo Bill captivated audiences, the first World War commenced, President McKinley was assassinated, President Roosevelt nearly assassinated, and reform movements were so prominent a force in domestic consciousness that Richard Hofstadter called the era, "The Age of Reform."

Although periodization is contentious, contextualization is the opposite: a requirement. Getting a historical grip on the broader events, mood, and overall situation being studied adds depth and understanding to focused analytical studies.

Please find below a bibliography of works that do just that.

Contextual Bibliography 1898-1920

Also, in the latest Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (Vol. 6, No. 2. [April, 2007]) has an excellent debate on Richard Hofstadter's fifty-year-old The Age of Reform.

Robert Johnston defends the modernist classic while Gillis Harp places the text firmly in its 1950's historical setting.

An interesting debate...find it at

Society for Historians of the Guilded Age and Progressive Era (SHGAPE)

M. Patrick Cullinane, Liberty and Anti-Imperialism, June 24, 2007.

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