Publisher's Synopsis
Now, in the dawn of the 21st century, the continent of North America is overshadowed by the idea of 'America', yet, to what degree are the realities of being North American actually defined by the imaginations and aspirations of a certain few in 1776? The Other North America contains a collection of essays by Anglican authors from around the continent that bring attention to the natural identities and classical traditions that when taken together demonstrate the existence of two competing North Americas. There is a vision in which all in what has become the shared English-speaking society of North America are to be forcibly conformed to the proposition of the 'American', the pursuit of which has already led to the violent conflicts of 1812 and 1861-1865. Within the Anglican tradition is to be found an ethical alternative, one which seeks to understand the positive differences among North Americans, and to live in harmony with those realities, rather than to eliminate them by integrating all into a universal ideal. The continued presence of another North America in the shadows, as explored in The Other North America, brings into doubt whether the ultimate fate of every North American will be their reduction to an 'American' ideal, or whether instead of such a fate, a deeper understanding as to what it means to exist as a North American will emerge.
