American Beliefs

What Keeps a Big Country and a Diverse People United

By: John Harmon McElroy

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Paperback | 15 August 2000

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256 Pages

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15.0 x 22.8 x 2.3

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Why do so many different people with widely dissimilar ideas and customs get along as Americans? In American Beliefs, John McElroy identifies and explains those essential ideas that promote the unity of a vast nation and a diversified peopleâ"because they have been shared and acted upon by generations of Americans. Tracing these beliefs historically from their origins in the earliest experiences of the American colonists, Mr. McElroy shows how they became continuing convictions that together form a pattern distinct from those of other peoples. Work, he argues, shaped the primary beliefs of Americans, for the task of the early settlers was first of all to survive in a new wilderness. He then goes on to discuss beliefs that grew from the experiences of immigrants, from life on the frontier, and from the ideas that Americans developed about religion and morality, politics, human nature, and the workings of society. It is not birthplace or skin color that makes a person an American, Mr. McElroy observes, but a common behavior based upon principles of freedom and equality, individuality and responsibility, improvement and practicality. American Beliefs is a book greatly needed, a powerful antidote to decades of historical and political writings that have concentrated on the differences among Americans.

Industry Reviews

An exceptionally interesting and rewarding book about what makes Americans what they are.--Jonathan Yardley "The Review of Higher Education "

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Preface	p. xi
What Do We Mean by "Culture"?	p. 3
How American Culture Was Formed	p. 10
Primary Beliefs of American Culture	p. 37
Immigrant Beliefs	p. 60
Frontier Beliefs	p. 93
Religious and Moral Beliefs	p. 108
Social Beliefs	p. 148
Political Beliefs	p. 165
Beliefs on Human Nature	p. 206
American Culture Today, and Tomorrow	p. 220
List of American Cultural Beliefs	p. 227
Notes	p. 229
Bibliography	p. 239
Acknowledgments	p. 253
Index	p. 255
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

American Beliefs

What Keeps a Big Country and a Diverse People United

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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