Who has succeeded most in bringing people together?

May 23, 2008 8:25 AM

What are some powerful examples throughout history of public figures or concepts that have successfully united disparate people?
posted by deern the headlice to Human Relations (23 answers total)

Tito is probably the most obvious. The description of him in Eastern Approaches is great.

Israel is a good example - Jews from all over. And you know what they say: 2 Jews, 3 opinions.

Alexander the Great?
posted by charlesv at 8:47 AM on May 23, 2008

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal..."
posted by Class Goat at 8:50 AM on May 23, 2008

On the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
posted by phunniemee at 8:53 AM on May 23, 2008

Well an obvious personage would be Gandhi.
posted by elendil71 at 8:53 AM on May 23, 2008

The U.S. Constitution?
posted by Doohickie at 9:03 AM on May 23, 2008

The Hajj is often cited as something that brings Muslims together from all over the world, from many different backgrounds, and those who have gone on it tend to be more open, supportive of women's rights, and have increased belief in peace, harmony, and equality among people. (wikipedia link)
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:07 AM on May 23, 2008

I'm surprised money hasn't been mentioned yet.
posted by munchbunch at 9:28 AM on May 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

The Hajj was a life-changing experience for Malcolm X, for example.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:40 AM on May 23, 2008

Best answer: Nationalist leaders who united diverse human geographies:

Giuseppe Garibaldi
Charles Stewart Parnell
Joseph Stalin
Adolph Hitler
Mao Zedong
Juan Peron
Mahatma Gandhi
Sukarno
Yasser Arafat
Ayatollah Khomeini
Mihailo Markovic
Nelson Mandela
posted by gum at 9:41 AM on May 23, 2008

Roman Empire. Religion. United States. Genghis Khan.
posted by coffeefilter at 9:43 AM on May 23, 2008

Best answer: The Great Peacemaker, who founded the Iroquois Confederacy, which united the Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Tuscarora tribes.
posted by rtha at 10:00 AM on May 23, 2008

Are you distinguishing between 'united by diplomacy/inspiration/etc" and "united by fear/power"? Because, like, even Saddam did a pretty decent job at uniting Iraq's disparate cultures, although it was through brutal rule and retribution.
posted by rooftop secrets at 10:13 AM on May 23, 2008

Southern Italians would disagree with the inclusion of Garibaldi.

Just as, I'm sure, lots of Yugoslavians might disagree with my inclusion of Tito.
posted by charlesv at 10:34 AM on May 23, 2008

Joan of Arc. There really wasn't a France, just disparate peoples living in the area, nominally under a single king, but really as divided as France and Germany are today.

She united these groups and made the first moves in creating what is now France.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:39 AM on May 23, 2008

Racism. Anti-Semitism. Sexism. Hatred in general.
posted by betterton at 10:57 AM on May 23, 2008

Response by poster: Are you distinguishing between 'united by diplomacy/inspiration/etc" and "united by fear/power"? Because, like, even Saddam did a pretty decent job at uniting Iraq's disparate cultures, although it was through brutal rule and retribution.

Sorry, I should have specified -- I'm seeking people/concepts which have brought together a patchwork of people under unlikely circumstances for positive purposes, not to mobilize them for war/fears/persecution of others. I'm looking for inspiring examples, preferably.
posted by deern the headlice at 11:13 AM on May 23, 2008

Honest Abe was legendary for his ability to work with hotheads across intra-party divisions. I'd imagine that this NPR interview, by the author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" would discuss it.
posted by Beardman at 12:21 PM on May 23, 2008

This is more of a event...Relay for Life.
posted by sixcolors at 2:05 PM on May 23, 2008

On the concept front, nothing unites a people like a tragedy or common enemy.
posted by gjc at 6:49 PM on May 23, 2008

Best answer: Confucianism as modified by Legalism and assorted other practices - creating a stable polity that expanded to fill a continent, with the Han not so much an ethnic group as a patchwork of peoples related to greater and lesser extents absorbed by this shared religio-political culture, a culture so robust that when foreign forces conquered China they became Chinese rather than making much of an impact on their new dominion.
posted by Abiezer at 11:46 PM on May 23, 2008

Best answer: You can make a reasonable argument for Elizabeth I of England as pivotal in building the image of modern England.

Bismarck in Germany.

Clovis was pivotal in laying the grounds for the very idea of France.

There are plenty of figures you could add from French history who renewed it; Napoleon completely changed the face of French law and civil institutions (mostly for the better, I would suggest), and his ideas were carried across Europe, one way and another. de Gaulle would be another in the vein of reinventing France.

Te Whiti is quite influential in New Zealand, especially (obviously) amongst Maori, and Dame Whina Cooper could be considered a spiritual descendant.
posted by rodgerd at 2:07 AM on May 24, 2008

I can't believe I forgot to mention King Kamehameha I, who united the islands of Hawaii. He did it by conquest, but he did it.
posted by rtha at 10:39 AM on May 24, 2008

Ferdinand and Isabella (of Christopher Columbus fame) united the kingdoms of Aragon and Castille. They also founded the Spanish Inquisition to help maintain centralized control. (If you're looking for inspiring examples, you should probably leave out the inquisition bit.)

Henry Clay, aka "The Great Compromiser", very influential US senator from the early 1800's, helped settle numerous disputes in early American history.
posted by Ndwright at 4:44 PM on May 24, 2008