Description
Book SynopsisWhat is an American? Bruce P. Frohnen and Ted V. McAllister argue that we are, in fact, a distinct people with our own common character that transcends race, gender, ethnicity, and class. They find in our current political conflicts a crisis of identity that stems from changes, not just in our political, economic, and technological environment, but in our ability to evaluate—and to value—the personalities that shaped our way of life. The history of the American character is filled with triumph as well as tragedy, and with virtue as well as vice. It is a story of cooperation and conflict among an unruly people, who from earliest days questioned authority even as they worked to establish communities of faith, family, and local freedom under extreme circumstances.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Self, Character, and People
Chapter 1: Unruly Pilgrims
Chapter 2: The Roots of American Culture
Chapter 3: Slavery
Chapter 4: A Plural Nation: American Liberties and the Birth of a People
Chapter 5: Conflict, Law, and Revolution
Chapter 6: The Constitutional Conversation
Chapter 7: Cane Ridge and the New Protestant Consensus
Chapter 8: “The Democracy” and Its Limits
Chapter 9: Changing Circumstances, Abiding Character
Chapter 10: American Women and the Power of Self-Sacrifice
Chapter 11: Civil War: The Deals that Failed
Chapter 12: Aftermath: Salvaging the Deal, or Replacing It?
Chapter 13: The West
Chapter 14: Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day, but Oklahoma City Was
Chapter 15: The Pursuit of Consolidation
Chapter 16: Wall Street vs. Main Street: The Early Years. Or, from Populism to Progressivism
Chapter 17: A Generation of Change
Chapter 18: A Changed Generation
Chapter 19: Civil Rights and the Anti-Discrimination State
Chapter 20: Radical Origins and Ideals
Chapter 21: Conflicting Visions
Chapter 22: Administrative Centralization and Its Effects
Chapter 23: Two Peoples, Two Americas?
Conclusion: Law Among the Unruly
