The American narrative in crisis -- I. The English origins of the American self and society. The early Puritan insurgents and the origins of agency -- The protestant revolutionaries and the emerging society of agents -- Thomas Hobbes and the founding of the liberal politics of agency -- John Locke and the mythic society of free agents -- II. The ascendancy of agency and the free new nation. The Great Awakening and the emergent culture of agency -- The revolutionary triumph of agency -- III. The dilemma of nationhood. The liberal idyll amidst republican realities -- From liberation to reversal in a world without bounds -- IV. The creation of an agency civilization. National revival as the crucible of agency character -- From sectarian discord to civil religion -- The protestant agent in liberal economics -- John Dewey and the modern synthesis -- Conclusion : The recovery of agency.
