The American Republic

Written toward the end of the American Civil War, this book examines the political turmoil of a nation at war with itself. Grounding his principles in the great Graeco-Roman tradition of classical Republicanism, Brownson critiques both the Southern States’ suicidal bid for independence and the Federal Government’s authoritarian overreach. He concludes that a Catholic America, which respectfully balances the interests of individual freedom and the binding solidarity of humanity, is the fulfillment of Republican development and will stand as a model beacon to the whole world. “Of all the states or colonies on this continent, the American Republic alone has a destiny, or the ability to add anything to the civilization of the race. Canada and the other British Provinces, Mexico and Central America, Columbia and Brazil, and the rest of the South American States, might be absorbed in the United States without being missed by the civilized world. They represent no idea, and the work of civilization could go on without them as well as with them.”