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1. The Ku Klux Klan, later the “Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,” is phonetically derived from the Greek kúklos (‘cycle,’ or ‘circle’), appending an arbitrary spelling of ‘clan’ for the purpose of a triple visual alliteration that might inspire curiosity and uneasiness. The name originally designated a secret society of white men in the American Southern States unwilling to come to terms with the outcome of the Civil War (1861–1865)—the victory of the Northern states, and the emancipation of the black …

Era 1: European prologue (1520–1607) round 1520 Spaniards begin colonization and mission in Mexico, Florida, and California Popes, and Spanish kings such as Charles V, have seen the best warrant for the perpetual exploitation of the fabled riches of the New World in a conversion of the ‘Indians.’ True, there was very early round 1570 Jesuits begin mission work in the Chesapeake Bay intra-church criticism of the treatment of the indigenous American population, for example by Dominican Father Bartolomé las Casas (1474–1566) and Francisco de Vitoria (1483–1546). Era 2: The Protestant…

1. a) The space occupied by North America in cultural history consists of the United States of America, as well as Canada, and in many respects represents both as a unit. In the economy, business, in language to a large extent, and particularly in the area of popular culture (such as nationwide leagues in professional sports) and lifestyle, the two countries are tightly interwoven. One area, however, in which Canada and the United States are clearly distinguished is the role of religion in society. b) The immigrant country of Canada, like the United States, is a country with Christi…

The Jewish Ghettos 1. The word ‘Ghetto’ emerges for the first time in the early sixteenth century, in Italy. Here the Republic of Venice erected for the Jews (once more admitted, after a long banishment) their own closed quarter, which probably got its name from the foundry (Ital., getto) in the vicinity. Once the diaspora had begun, the Jews lived together in certain urban quarters just like many minorities, until about the beginning of the second millennium in Catholic Western Europe. At that moment, by church law, they were compelled to wi…