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The Early Days of Imperial America

On this episode of American Prestige, Emily Conroy-Krutz on the global history of the early American republic.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

July 16, 2024

The Nation

Missionary Diplomacy

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The Early Days of Imperial America with Emily Conroy-Krutz | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Emily Conroy-Krutz on the global history of the early American republic.

On this episode of American Prestige, we sit down with Emily Conroy-Krutz, historian of nineteenth-century America specializing in the global history of the early American republic, to talk about the volume she co-edited with Michael Blaakman and Noelani Arista, The Early Imperial Republic: From the American Revolution to the U.S.–Mexican War. They explore the delineation of empire vs. republic vs. nation-state, challenging the narrative of 1898 being America’s imperial turn, settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous Americans, shifting notions of imperialism over time, and how the framing of America as an imperial project from the beginning can better help us understand its history.

You can also grab a copy of Emily’s book Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.

Further Reading:

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On this episode of American Prestige, we sit down with Emily Conroy-Krutz, historian of 19th-century America specializing in the global history of the early American republic, to talk about the volume she coedited with Michael Blaakman and Noelani Arista The Early Imperial Republic: From the American Revolution to the U.S.–Mexican War. They explore the delineation of empire vs. republic vs. nation-state, challenging the narrative of 1898’s being America’s imperial turn, settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous Americans, shifting notions of imperialism over time, and how the framing of America as an imperial project from the beginning can better help us understand its history.

You can also grab a copy of Emily’s book Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.

Further Reading:

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Mobility in America's Past, Present, and Future w/ Yoni Appelbaum | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Yoni Appelbaum, a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, joins the program to talk about his book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. We discuss mobility in the US and how that might sacrifice community for opportunity, the “frontier” as a way of taking land and easing class antagonism, the birth of American zoning from anti-Chinese practices in 19th century California, the move toward the single-family home and it being a symbol of the American identity, how we can make homes accessible once more for working Americans, and more.

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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.


Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


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