In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History Book

With insight and originality, Michael Fellman argues that terrorism, in various forms, has been a constant and driving force in American history. In part, this is due to the nature of American republicanism and Protestant Christianity, which he believes contain a core of moral absolutism and self-righteousness that perpetrators of terrorism use to justify their actions. Fellman also argues that there is an intrinsic relationship between terrorist acts by non-state groups and responses on the part of the state; unlike many observers, he believes that both the action and the reaction constitute terrorism.

Fellman’s compelling narrative focuses on five key episodes: John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry; terrorism during the American Civil War, especially race warfare and guerrilla warfare; the organized “White Line” paramilitary destruction of Reconstruction in Mississippi; the Haymarket Affair and its aftermath; and the Philippine-American war of 1899–1902. In an epilogue, he applies this history to illuminate the Bush-Cheney administration’s use of terrorism in the so-called war on terror. In the Name of God and Country demonstrates the centrality of terrorism in shaping America even to this day.

Publishers Weekly

Fellman (Inside War) examines the “central” role of terrorism “in the development of the American state” in this provocative academic treatise. Defining terrorism broadly as “overlapping forms of political violence”—i.e., an interchange between state and nonstate actors—Fellman offers five historical case studies that demonstrate “the underlying currents of terrorism intrinsic to the formation of American society.” The detailed case studies cover the expected episodes: the radical abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Va.; Union Gen. William T. Sherman's “scorched earth” march through Georgia; the white-supremacist—e.g., Ku Klux Klan, Mississippi White Line—campaign against Reconstruction; the 1886 Haymarket Square affair; and the Philippines War of 1899–1902. Fellman shows that throughout American history “the uses of political violence have been motivated by religious certitude coupled with psychological anxiety.” In a brief coda, the author argues that “these historical cases created the political template for modern-day American terrorism following September 11.” Although at times Fellman overstates the primacy of terrorism in shaping American institutions, this is a thoughtful and compelling re-evaluation of terrorism's long and often profound influence in our history. (Jan.)