The History and Metaphysics of “Woke”
02/06/2025
Lukas Organ
Today in American politics, even if you are solely interested in economic and foreign policy issues, it would still require Herculean luck not to come across the term “woke.” Woke has become the main weapon of the cultural war on both sides. It could be used to praise someone or to denounce them. A politician could be labelled “woke” by both supporters and detractors. But what does this term really mean?
History of “Woke” as a Term
As a term, the earliest prototype of this quite modern phenomenon are the Wide Awakes. The Wide Awakes were a paramilitary group, founded on March 3, 1860 in Hartford Connecticut. The paramilitary supported the up-start Republican party and, particularly, Lincoln. Its founders were law clerks who believed that a paramilitary group could be of use in the 1860 election. The group rapidly grew and attracted many Yankee/Northern youths. According to the National Park Service,
The Wide Awakes also helped get youth interested in voting by the uniforms that they wore: they were known for large pro-Lincoln torchlight parades, wearing identical kepi hats, capes made of enameled canvas, and carrying large kerosine lamps.
The Wide Awakes were a political curiosity in the North. Their uniforms and parades were quite popular in the North, however in the South, they were seen with suspicion and fear. Because the Wide Awakes never marched in the Southern United States, Southern newspapers could exaggerate the paramilitary part of the Wide Awakes and engage in fearmongering…
https://mises.org/power-market/history-and-metaphysics-woke
