Dissent: The History of an American Idea examines the key role dissent has played in shaping the United States. It focuses on those who, from colonial days to the present, dissented against the ruling paradigm of their time: from the Puritan Anne Hutchinson and Native American chief Powhatan in the seventeenth century, to the Occupy and Tea Party movements in the twenty-first century.   Women fought for equal rights; abolitionists sought to destroy slavery; workers organized unions; Indians resisted white encroachment on their land and antiwar activists took to the streets to protest the nation’s wars. Some dissenters are celebrated heroes of American history, while others are ordinary people: frequently overlooked, but whose stories show that change is often accomplished through grassroots activism. The United States is a nation founded on the promise and power of dissent. In this stunningly comprehensive volume, Ralph Young shows us its history. “A wonderfully erudite and lucid introduction to another ‘American dream’ that inspired millions around the world. A wise and topical invitation to reappraise global image of American culture today, when we are facing renewed struggle for hearts and minds.” - Vladislav Zubok,London School of Economics and Politics “One of the great merits of Young’s book in his nuanced perspective on events and people that are too often reduced to clichés in our collective memory.”- Political Science Quarterly