Making The American Self : Jonathan Edwards To Abraham Lincoln


Cover of the book Making The American Self : Jonathan Edwards To Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Walker Howe, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel Walker Howe ISBN: 9780195387896
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Daniel Walker Howe
ISBN: 9780195387896
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: December 15, 2009
Imprint:
Language: English
Originally published in 1997 and now back in print, Making the American Self by Daniel Walker Howe, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought, charts the genesis and fascinating trajectory of a central idea in American history. One of the most precious liberties Americans have always cherished is the ability to "make something of themselves"--to choose not only an occupation but an identity. Examining works by Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and others, Howe investigates how Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries engaged in the process of "self-construction," "self-improvement," and the "pursuit of happiness." He explores as well how Americans understood individual identity in relation to the larger body politic, and argues that the conscious construction of the autonomous self was in fact essential to American democracy--that it both shaped and was in turn shaped by American democratic institutions. "The thinkers described in this book," Howe writes, "believed that, to the extent individuals exercised self-control, they were making free institutions--liberal, republican, and democratic--possible." And as the scope of American democracy widened so too did the practice of self-construction, moving beyond the preserve of elite white males to potentially all Americans. Howe concludes that the time has come to ground our democracy once again in habits of personal responsibility, civility, and self-discipline esteemed by some of America's most important thinkers. Erudite, beautifully written, and more pertinent than ever as we enter a new era of individual and governmental responsibility, Making the American Self illuminates an impulse at the very heart of the American experience.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Originally published in 1997 and now back in print, Making the American Self by Daniel Walker Howe, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought, charts the genesis and fascinating trajectory of a central idea in American history. One of the most precious liberties Americans have always cherished is the ability to "make something of themselves"--to choose not only an occupation but an identity. Examining works by Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and others, Howe investigates how Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries engaged in the process of "self-construction," "self-improvement," and the "pursuit of happiness." He explores as well how Americans understood individual identity in relation to the larger body politic, and argues that the conscious construction of the autonomous self was in fact essential to American democracy--that it both shaped and was in turn shaped by American democratic institutions. "The thinkers described in this book," Howe writes, "believed that, to the extent individuals exercised self-control, they were making free institutions--liberal, republican, and democratic--possible." And as the scope of American democracy widened so too did the practice of self-construction, moving beyond the preserve of elite white males to potentially all Americans. Howe concludes that the time has come to ground our democracy once again in habits of personal responsibility, civility, and self-discipline esteemed by some of America's most important thinkers. Erudite, beautifully written, and more pertinent than ever as we enter a new era of individual and governmental responsibility, Making the American Self illuminates an impulse at the very heart of the American experience.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book Lost Christianities:The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book The Bible in History : How the Texts Have Shaped the Times by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book American Renaissance : Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Political Theology for a Plural Age by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Away Down South : A History of Southern Identity by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Dinner with Lenny: The Last Long Interview with Leonard Bernstein by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Red Families V. Blue Families : Legal Polarization And The Creation Of Culture by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Managing Your Mind:The Mental Fitness Guide by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Voodoo Science:The Road from Foolishness to Fraud by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book George Washington's Mount Vernon : At Home in Revolutionary America by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book Copyright's Paradox by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book A Century of Spies:Intelligence in the Twentieth Century by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book The Accidental Investment Banker:Inside the Decade that Transformed Wall Street by Daniel Walker Howe
Cover of the book The Great War And Modern Memory by Daniel Walker Howe
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy