Americanism: Revolutionary Order and Societal Self-Interpretation in the American Republic ***

The American Revolution brought a new and vital power to the world and created the political, social, and intellectual conditions that continue to govern the lives of Americans today. Jurgen Gebhardt's Americanism, originally published in German, analyzes the origins of the American public philosophy. Gebhardt uses the term civil theology - which he describes as a belief system grounded in social and religious ideals and based upon the principle "one nation, under God " - to set forth the character of that philosophy.