Did Fascism Begin in America? Historian Joseph Kelly Explains

Historian Joseph Kelly argues that the roots of American fascism reach much further back than Nazi Germany or Mussolini’s Italy. They can be found in the antebellum South and the political system built to defend slavery and racial hierarchy.

Kelly, author of The Biggest Lie: The Prehistory of American Fascism, 1818 - 1915, traces how the promise that “all men are created equal” collided with a growing ideology that insisted inequality was natural. We discuss Thomas Jefferson, the Denmark Vesey conspiracy, Nat Turner, pseudoscientific racism, Samuel George Morton, Jim Crow, and the use of fear and political violence to protect white power.

Kelly also explains Robert Paxton’s definition of fascism, why January 6 changed Paxton’s view of Donald Trump, and how election denial can function as a test of political loyalty. The conversation ends with the institutions Kelly believes still protect American democracy, including a free press, independent courts, academic freedom, and organizations committed to defending civil rights.

BOOK

Book: The Biggest Lie: The Prehistory of American Fascism, 1818 - 1915

GUEST BIO

Joseph Kelly is a historian and professor of literature and history at the College of Charleston. His work examines American democracy and the historical struggle between egalitarian ideals and systems of racial and political hierarchy. His latest book, The Biggest Lie: The Prehistory of American Fascism, 1818 - 1915, traces the development of American fascist politics from the antebellum South through Jim Crow and the rise of Anglo-Saxon nationalism. He is also the author of Marooned and America’s Longest Siege.