| Description |
xxii, 280 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Series |
The American ways series |
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American ways series.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [237]-264) and index. |
| Contents |
1. The American land: landscapes of abundance, wilderness, and beauty -- 2. The West and the South: exceptional regions and regions of exceptionalism -- 3. Cities upon Hills: the colonial foundations of American exceptionalism -- 4. Sacred fire of liberty: the American Revolution and the transformation of American exceptionalism -- 5. The American way of empire: exceptionalism and U.S. foreign policy -- 6. Promissory notes: exceptionalism and African American self-empowerment -- 7. Perfectible union: American exceptionalism and reform -- 8. People of plenty: American exceptionalism and affluence -- 9. Crisis of disorientation: contested exceptionalisms in contemporary America. |
| Summary |
"In engaging and lucid prose, Volker Depkat offers general readers and students of American history an invaluable lens through which they can evaluate for themselves the merits of the many ways in which Americans have understood their country as exceptional"-- Provided by publisher. |
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The idea that America is exceptional, whether because of its founding creed, natural abundance, or Protestant origins, has been fiercely debated since the nation's founding. Volker Depkat explores the diverse ways in which Americans have described their country as exceptional. Describing how narratives of exceptionalism have never been a purely American affair, Depkat shows how European, African, and Asian immigrants projected their own dreams and nightmares onto the American screen, contributing to the intellectual construction of America. These different groups living in America have described exceptionalism in such differing terms that there has hardly ever been a shared understanding as to what these exceptional experiences were and how to interpret them. What has unified the disparate exceptionalist narratives is their insistence on America's universalist and future-oriented way of life. In engaging and lucid prose, Depkat offers general readers and students of American history an invaluable lens through which they can evaluate the merits of the ways in which Americans have understood their country as exceptional--back cover. |
| Subject |
Exceptionalism -- United States.
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National characteristics, American.
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United States -- Civilization.
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Americans. (OCoLC)fst00807488
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Exceptionalism. (OCoLC)fst01748515
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
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| ISBN |
9781538101186 (hardcover) |
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1538101181 (hardcover) |
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9781538101193 electronic publication |
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