American Forgiveness: Reconciliation, Reparation, and Pardon in U.S. History

3 units

How has the very meaning of forgiveness evolved in American history, and why? Can understanding the history of forgiveness in American culture usefully inform present efforts at forgiveness and reconciliation in American culture? Topics include: forgiveness of loyalists and of Britain after the Revolution; imperfect racial and regional reconciliation after the Civil War; intergenerational tensions and forgiveness in American history; influential theologies of forgiveness; altered views concerning bankruptcy and debt forgiveness; political scandals and forgiveness; the history of restitution as an aim in the American justice system; grievances and forgiveness involving U.S. treatment of Native American nations and with respect to the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II; forgiveness as a theme of the Civil Rights movement; President Gerald Ford's pardoning of President Nixon; changing divorce and adultery laws, etc.