The Roots Of American Individualism

Author : Alex Zakaras
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691226326
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Roots of American Individualism written by Alex Zakaras and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2024-08-20 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A panoramic history of American individualism from its nineteenth-century origins to today’s bitterly divided politics Individualism is a defining feature of American public life. Its influence is pervasive today, with liberals and conservatives alike promising to expand personal freedom and defend individual rights against unwanted intrusion, be it from big government, big corporations, or intolerant majorities. The Roots of American Individualism traces the origins of individualist ideas to the turbulent political controversies of the Jacksonian era (1820–1850) and explores their enduring influence on American politics and culture. Alex Zakaras plunges readers into the spirited and rancorous political debates of Andrew Jackson’s America, drawing on the stump speeches, newspaper editorials, magazine articles, and sermons that captivated mass audiences and shaped partisan identities. He shows how these debates popularized three powerful myths that celebrated the young nation as an exceptional land of liberty: the myth of the independent proprietor, the myth of the rights-bearer, and the myth of the self-made man. The Roots of American Individualism reveals how generations of politicians, pundits, and provocateurs have invoked these myths for competing political purposes. Time and again, the myths were used to determine who would enjoy equal rights and freedoms and who would not. They also conjured up heavily idealized, apolitical visions of social harmony and boundless opportunity, typically centered on the free market, that have distorted American political thought to this day.

Author : Barry Alan Shain
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780691029122
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.21/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Myth of American Individualism written by Barry Alan Shain and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1996-08-25 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

Author : Aaron Barlow
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Cult of Individualism written by Aaron Barlow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-08-27 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American individualism: It is the reason for American success, but it also tears the nation apart. Why do Americans have so much trouble seeing eye to eye today? Is this new? Was there ever an American consensus? The Cult of Individualism: A History of an Enduring American Myth explores the rarely discussed cultural differences leading to today's seemingly intractable political divides. After an examination of the various meanings of individualism in America, author Aaron Barlow describes the progression and evolution of the concept from the 18th century on, illuminating the wide division in Caucasian American culture that developed between the culture based on the ideals of the English Enlightenment and that of the Scots-Irish "Borderers." The "Borderer" legacy, generally explored only by students of Appalachian culture, remains as pervasive and significant in contemporary American culture and politics as it is, unfortunately, overlooked. It is from the "Borderers" that the Tea Party sprang, along with many of the attitudes of the contemporary American right, making it imperative that this culture be thoroughly explored.

Author : Barry Alan Shain
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691224994
Total Pages : 415 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Myth of American Individualism written by Barry Alan Shain and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-09 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

Author : Roger Smith
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 147596529X
Total Pages : 343 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Spirit written by Roger Smith and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2013-01-24 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first European immigrants came to the American colonies to escape incessant wars, oppressive governments, lack of opportunity, and tyrannical religious authorities. The dangerous and mysterious new world couldn’t rectify all the ills of the old world, but it offered something that resonated with their Christian faith—hope for a better life for their loved ones. They miraculously built a government that preserved more freedom and opportunity for the American people than any government in history. The United States can continue as a beacon of hope if its citizens focus on the common goodness of their past that binds them instead of the differences that divide them. American Spirit presents this refreshing perspective through an exciting mosaic of adventure, despair, hope, faith, and love. Smith’s incredible research and vivid writing style as he follows multiple generations of immigrants seeking freedom in America make this book an essential read. Smith’s novel is historical fiction that intrigues, engages, and lingers, long after the last page is turned. — Joe Kilgore, US Review of Books The Civil War is an ugly period of American history. Uglier still, are the many times inaccurate accounts of the war were told. Roger Smith has taken a giant step forward in setting the record straight. Reading this book will open your mind. It is much more than just another war story. — Dan Mackintosh, Pacific Book Review

Author : Aaron Barlow
Publisher : Praeger
ISBN 13 : 1440828296
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Cult of Individualism written by Aaron Barlow and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2013-08-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American individualism: It is the reason for American success, but it also tears the nation apart. Why do Americans have so much trouble seeing eye to eye today? Is this new? Was there ever an American consensus? The Cult of Individualism: A History of an Enduring American Myth explores the rarely discussed cultural differences leading to today's seemingly intractable political divides. After an examination of the various meanings of individualism in America, author Aaron Barlow describes the progression and evolution of the concept from the 18th century on, illuminating the wide division in Caucasian American culture that developed between the culture based on the ideals of the English Enlightenment and that of the Scots-Irish "Borderers." The "Borderer" legacy, generally explored only by students of Appalachian culture, remains as pervasive and significant in contemporary American culture and politics as it is, unfortunately, overlooked. It is from the "Borderers" that the Tea Party sprang, along with many of the attitudes of the contemporary American right, making it imperative that this culture be thoroughly explored.

Author : Leah N. Gordon
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022623844X
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book From Power to Prejudice written by Leah N. Gordon and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-05-20 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gordon provides an intellectual history of the concept of racial prejudice in postwar America. In particular, she asks, what accounts for the dominance of theories of racism that depicted oppression in terms of individual perpetrators and victims, more often than in terms of power relations and class conflict? Such theories came to define race relations research, civil rights activism, and social policy. Gordon s book is a study in the politics of knowledge production, as it charts debates about the race problem in a variety of institutions, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the University of Chicago s Committee on Education Training and Research in Race Relations, Fisk University s Race Relations Institutes, Howard University s "Journal of Negro Education," and the National Conference of Christians and Jews."

Author : Herbert Hoover
Publisher : Dissertations-G
ISBN 13 : 9780824097042
Total Pages : 72 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Individualism written by Herbert Hoover and published by Dissertations-G. This book was released on 1979 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Herbert Hoover
Publisher : Garden City, Doubleday
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 90 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Individualism written by Herbert Hoover and published by Garden City, Doubleday. This book was released on 1922 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Hoover expounds and vigorously defends what has come to be called American exceptionalism: the set of beliefs and values that still makes America unique. He argues that America can make steady, sure progress if we preserve our individualism, preserve and stimulate the initiative of our people, insist on and maintain the safeguards to equality of opportunity, and honor service as a part of our national character.

Author : Stephanie M. Walls
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1623566711
Total Pages : 217 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Individualism in the United States written by Stephanie M. Walls and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-02-26 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A comprehensive look at the foundations, and current state of individualism in the US, including an assessment of the implications for American democracy and citizenship"--