3,805 words

California is the jewel in the crown of the American Union. Of all the states it contains the largest economy. Indeed, California’s economy is one of the largest in the world.[1] (more…)

Jack London

1,160 words

English original here

Pred pár rokmi sa istá mladá žena vydala na cestu z Alabamy až do Kalifornie, kde ju čakalo štúdium na univerzite. V tom čase jej strýko povedal príbeh o tom, ako vlastne vznikla Kalifornia. Ako iste viete, Amerika bola osídlená ľuďmi, ktorí sa rozhodli nevrátiť do Európy. Boli medzi nimi náboženskí fanatici, zlodeji koní, utečenci pred spravodlivosťou, hľadači zlata, či ničím neviazaní dobrodruhovia. Postupne títo ľudia osídlili východné pobrežie, ale nie všetci našli to, čo hľadali a preto sa rozhodli ísť ďalej smerom na západ a usadiť sa tam. (more…)

Jack London

1,311 words

English original here

Il y a des années, lorsqu’une jeune femme quittait l’Alabama pour aller à l’université en Californie, son oncle lui racontait l’histoire de la naissance de la Californie. L’Amérique, voyez-vous, était peuplée par des gens qui ne pouvaient simplement pas s‘adapter en Europe : fanatiques religieux, voleurs de chevaux, criminels en fuite, chercheurs de fortune, et autres gens libres de toute attache. (more…)

2,640 words

The heterogeneity of America’s European population has always posed a challenge to its national identity. Only late in the nineteenth century was this identity extended to European immigrants assimilated in its Anglo-Protestant values and, in the twentieth century, to Catholics, whose Church (the “Whore of Babylon”) had learned to accommodate the Protestant contours of American life (or what John Murray Cuddihy called its “civil religion”). From this ethnogenesis, the original Anglo-Protestant identity of the American people gradually evolved into a more inclusive European Christian identity, though one closely tied to its Anglo-Protestant antecedents.

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Denis Kearney, 1847–1907

3,372 words

Editor’s Note:

Denis Kearney was born on February 1, 1847. In commemoration of his birthday, we are reprinting the following essay. On the same topic, see Raymond Wolters’ superb essay “Race War on the Pacific Coast” (PDF),

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Jack London

1,113 words

Slovak translation here

Years ago, when a young woman set out from Alabama to go to college in California, her uncle told her the story of how California was born. America, you see, was populated by people who just did not fit in back in Europe: religious fanatics, horse thieves, bail jumpers, fortune seekers, and other footloose folk. When they settled on the East Coast, the ones who didn’t fit in there moved a little further West and settled. Those who didn’t fit in there, moved still further West. (more…)