Book Reviewed: Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union by Richard Kreitner

Some reflections on the creation of United States of America America is in a state of crisis, says the author. After reflecting on precolonial days that lead to the American Revolution, and challenging times in building the nation, he observes that it is more polarized towards division rather than a union! He sees flaws in the founders’ wish to forge a democracy: The new world did not create American exceptionalism but produced radicalism and failed hopes. According to him, the puritans, native Americans, enslaved Africans, women with little rights, and new immigrants from Europe offers a picture of the messy years of American birth. The years of the American Revolution were times of changing loyalties, fierce battles and internecine feuds that provides a stage for his reinterpretation of the history. This is a very narrow approach to narrate the American history especially when he finds that the 2016 victory of Donald Trump has furthered the division of the union. This ignores the decades of mishandling of American affairs. It is a matter of choice to bring a new idea into the White House that did not include professional politicians who are corrupt and toxic to the bone! Formative years are always challenging to any nation, and I wished the author had a broader view in his analysis. When English colonists left Asia and Africa, these colonies faced the same challenges that United States faced in creating a union with serious domestic issues. Similar challenges were faced by East European countries and former territories of Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991. The author ignores key features that made United States as one of the strongest and powerful nations in the world. For example, the battles with Native Americans on the western and Southern frontier, and the bloody civil war that lost more than a million Americans. North prevailed in the Civil War ending slavery and giving the country a new birth of freedom. But many confederates found new opportunities in the West. Settlers from the East were pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican American War and the occupation of Native American lands created new racial hierarchies. The mining, cattle, and oil industries created wealth and neo-fiscal conservatives like Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. There is no crisis over our national identity. This is manufactured over decades by politicians. Divisions at local and regional areas are not new. They were always there, and politicians have manipulated the system to their advantage to divide people along economic, social, and racial barriers. This is heard every four years!