Modern history

A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character

A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character

On the two-hundredth anniversary of George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address - one of the most influential but misunderstood expressions of American political thought - this book places the Address in the full context of American history and explains its enduring relevance for the next century. Generations of American political leaders have invoked the authority of the Address to shape foreign and domestic policy. With discussions about national character and personal responsibility dominating the current political landscape, there has been a resurgence of interest in the character of the nation's founders, particularly Washington's. The authors show how the Address expressed Washington's ideas for forming a national character that would cultivate the habits, morals, and civic virtues essential for stable republican self-government. An insightful and provocative analysis of the past, present, and future of American democracy and its most important citizen, this book will be of value to anyone concerned about the current state of American citizenship and the future role of the federal government.

BOOK ONE - THE VISION AND THE REALITY

PART ONE - A CITY UPON A HILL: The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay

Chapter 1. How Orthodoxy Made the Puritans Practical

Chapter 2. The Sermon as an American Institution

Chapter 3. Search for a New England Way

Chapter 4. Puritan Conservatism

Chapter 5. How Puritans Resisted the Temptation of Utopia

PART TWO - THE INWARD PLANTATION: The Quakers of Pennsylvania

Chapter 6. The Quest for Martyrdom

Chapter 7. Trials of Governing: The Oath

Chapter 8. Trials of Governing: Pacifism

Chapter 9. How Quakers Misjudged the Indians

Chapter 10. The Withdrawal

Chapter 11. The Curse of Perfectionism

PART THREE - VICTIMS OF PHILANTHROPY: The Settlers of Georgia

Chapter 12. The Altruism of an Unheroic Age

Chapter 13. London Blueprint for Georgia Utopia

Chapter 14. A Charity Colony

Chapter 15. Death of a Welfare Project

Chapter 16. The Perils of Altruism

PART FOUR - TRANSPLANTERS: The Virginians

Chapter 17. English Gentlemen, American Style

Chapter 18. From Country Squire to Planter Capitalist

Chapter 19. Government by Gentry

Chapter 20. A Republic of Neighbors

Chapter 21. “Practical Godliness”: An Episcopal Church Without Bishops

Chapter 22. “Practical Godliness”: Toleration Without a Theory

Chapter 23. Citizens of Virginia

BOOK TWO - VIEWPOINTS AND INSTITUTIONS

PART FIVE - AN AMERICAN FRAME OF MIND

Chapter 24. Wanted: A Philosophy of the Unexpected

Chapter 25. The Appeal to Self-Evidence

Chapter 26. Knowledge Comes Naturally

Chapter 27. The Natural-History Emphasis

PART SIX - EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY

Chapter 28. The Community Enters the University

Chapter 29. Higher Education in Place of Higher Learning

Chapter 30. The Ideal of the Undifferentiated Man

PART SEVEN - THE LEARNED LOSE THEIR MONOPOLIES

Chapter 31. The Fluidity of Professions

Chapter 32. The Unspecialized Lawyer

Chapter 33. The Fusion of Law and Politics

PART EIGHT - NEW WORLD MEDICINE

Chapter 34. Nature-Healing and Simple Remedies

Chapter 35. Focus on the Community

Chapter 36. The General Practitioner

Chapter 37. Learning from Experience

PART NINE - THE LIMITS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE

Chapter 38. Popular Science: Astronomy for Everybody

Chapter 39. Naïve Insights and Ingenious Devices: Electricity

Chapter 40. Backwoods Farming

BOOK THREE - LANGUAGE AND THE PRINTED WORD

PART TEN - THE NEW UNIFORMITY

Chapter 41. An American Accent

Chapter 42. Quest for a Standard

Chapter 43. Culture by the Book: The Spelling Fetish

PART ELEVEN - CULTURE WITHOUT A CAPITAL

Chapter 44. “Rays Diverging from a Focus”

Chapter 45. Boston’s “Devout and Useful Books”

Chapter 46. Manuals for Plantation Living

Chapter 47. The Way of the Marketplace: Philadelphia

Chapter 48. Poetry Without Poets

PART TWELVE - A CONSERVATIVE PRESS

Chapter 49. The Decline of the Book

Chapter 50. The Rise of the Newspaper

Chapter 51. Why Colonial Printed Matter Was Conservative

Chapter 52. “The Publick Printer”

BOOK FOUR - WARFARE AND DIPLOMACY

PART THIRTEEN - A NATION OF MINUTE MEN

Chapter 53. Defensive Warfare and Naïve Diplomacy

Chapter 54. Colonial Militia and the Myth of Preparedness

Chapter 55. Home Rule and Colonial “Isolationism”

Chapter 56. The Unprofessional Soldier

Bibliographical Notes

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