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In general, all societies have evolved from a background in which people were many and resources were few. Thus the creation of their ideas, values, and institutions needed to adjust to that reality. The unique history of the United States, however, makes it an exception. There people were few but resources were endless. Thus, American traditions, values, ideas, and institutions which were of European origin had to undergo major transformations. The reality of plenty is thus the key to understanding the uniqueness of American civilization.
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Foreword by Professor Aviam Soifer
Preface
Acknowledgments
I Europe Dreamt and America Realized the
Enlightenment, or Did It?
II American Exceptionalism and the Forces
that Maintain It
III The Unique Nature of American Political
Violence
IV The Deprivation of Indian Sovereignty
V Genocide, North American Style
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
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“A fresh intellectual history of the role of the frontier
in the American national experience … An excellent analyis
of the positive and dark sides of the American national experience.”
American Studies (University of Kansas and the Mid-American
Studies Association)
“Historians in the past often
identified and celebrated American uniqueness in terms of the existence
of an open frontier and a land full of plentiful resources. Those
core ideas may be more powerful as ideas than they are as reality.
There is something bracingly paradoxical in Arnon Gutfeld’s
ability to synthesize, to criticize, and to move beyond previous
understandings of what may be unique about America. American
Exceptionalism makes a compelling argument that displays a
deep, highly original understanding of the historical myth and reality
of the American frontier…
Throughout his book, Gutfeld argues
convincingly that ‘plenty’ and the ‘frontier’
have been weighty and malleable concepts in American history. Yet
the ideas of available plenitude and an open frontier also entailed
devastating practical consequences. Despite so much tragic history
and such harsh contemporary reality, these ideas still flourish
today. Insistent ahistoricism also is a key element of American
theory and practice. Americans even seem inclined to repeat past
mistakes as exactly as possible, rather than to learn much from
them. Though one should not bet on the power of any book to change
deep-rooted American behavioral patterns, American Exceptionalism
clearly offers an insightful, important corrective.” From
the Foreword by Avi Soifer, Boston College Law School, Massachusetts
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Publication Details
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Hardback ISBN: |
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978-1-903900-08-6 |
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Page Extent / Format: |
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256 pp. / 229 x 152 mm |
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Release Date: |
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June 2002 |
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Illustrated: |
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No |
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Hardback Price: |
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£49.95 / $69.50 |
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