What is nationalism? Nationalism is a group of people who abide by the principles and the same framework of laws. An example that we all follow everyday is the U.S. Constitution.  I guess you could say we are all equal because we all agree to follow the same rules right? Some people were romantic nationalists. They said that there is something to a nation beyond law and beyond individual rationality. There is a “soul.” But how would we be able to spot that? One answer could be racial nationalism. You can use a race to define a nation. But why isn’t the U.S. not part of any other country? The U.S. is not really “unique.” We are open to everyone: every race, every personality, every culture, etc. This does not tend to make us unique. A country like Germany for example, is unique because everyone is the same. There are only white people living there who share the same culture and values. Another problem with the U.S. not being unique is the idea that the American character consists of frontiers, unlike other countries. Think about it. In the west, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Indian, etc. cultures are more prominent because that is where they first migrated from. You would not find many people who speak these languages or are from the culture on the east coast.  European countries are known as a place of “whiteness.” One serious study in the 1890s was folk culture. This was like the traditional, untouched people. The only place to find them is on the economic margins, the Appalachia swamps of Louisiana. You could also think of these people as hillbillies, ignorant or primitive. But now because of the whole point of folk culture, they are considered pure and uncontaminated.

Huddie Ledbetter was raised in Texas and worked as a laborer and also played music. He went to prison for manslaughter in 1930. He was discovered by John Lomax. He was looking to bring folk culture and music back and what a better place to look than in prison? Lomax got Ledbetter out of prison and they went on college tours with “folklore” programs. Ledbetter eventually split from Lomax but could only make a living as a “folk” singer.