Long before the United States was a nation it was a set of ideas projected onto the New World
by European explorers with centuries of belief and thought in tow. From this foundation of
expectation and experience America and American thought grew in turn enriched by the bounties
of the Enlightenment the philosophies of liberty and individuality the tenets of religion
and the doctrines of republicanism and democracy. In engaging and accessible prose Jennifer
Ratner-Rosenhagen's introduction to American thought considers how notions about freedom and
belonging the market and morality - and even truth - have commanded generations of Americans
and been the cause of fierce debate.
