What's Inside - The Idea of America: What It Was and How It Was Lost

What’s Inside

What’s Inside The Idea of America: What It Was and How It Was Lost

When we look around America today, it seems clear that the idea of America has failed. Can we imagine that any of the classical authors of this anthology, or any of the Founders, would think that today’s America is a free society in the strong sense of the word? It is certainly quite open, and less unfree than many other countries in the world. It may or may not be less unfree than other Western countries, depending on which area of human endeavor is considered. At any rate, contemporary America is far from the idea of America as we see it unfold in this book.

Not all hope is lost, though. We have reasons to be optimistic or, at least, not too pessimistic.
In this volume, the collection of primary sources compiled by William Bonner and Pierre Lemieux serve to convey what was, and hopefully still, is, the idea of America. Some powerful symbols of American liberty survive. Strong barriers to power remain in place. The paradigmatic right to keep and bear arms has recently regained some of the ground it had lost. Freedom of speech is probably better protected in America than anywhere else. It is in America that the advancing steamroller of the state is likely to meet the most resistance. The emergence of the Tea Party movement has raised hopes of reclaiming American liberty; whether these specific hopes will be satisfied or disappointed remains to be seen.

One thing is sure: if liberty and civilization have any future, the idea of America is the key.

Contents

Foreword: William Bonner

Introduction: Pierre Lemieux

Part I: Founding Documents

Chapter 1: The Declaration of Independence
Chapter 2: The Bill of Rights

Part II: Revolutionary Ideals

Chapter 3: Murray N. Rothbard: The Growth of Libertarian Thought in Colonial America
Chapter 4: Patrick Henry: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Chapter 5: Thomas Paine: Common Sense
Chapter 6: Lord Action: The Principles Underlying the American Revolution
Chapter 7: Murray N. Rothbard: The Radicalism of the American Revolution

Part III: Self, Decentralized, and Limited Government

Chapter 8: James Madison: Responsive Governments
Chapter 9: Alexis de Tocqueville: Local Administration
Chapter 10: Alexis de Tocqueville: Democratic Despotism
Chapter 11: Alexis de Tocqueville: Voluntary Associations

Part IV: Religion

Chapter 12: Alexis de Tocqueville: Religion in America

Part V: Self-Reliance and Character

Chapter 13: J.Hector St. John Crevecoeur: What Is an American?
Chapter 14: Benjamin Franklin: To Those Who Would Remove to America
Chapter 15: H.L. Mencken: On Being an American
Chapter 16: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Self-Reliance

Part VI: The Frontier

Chapter 17: John Umbeck: Self-Reliance in the California Gold Rush
Chapter 18: Mark Twain: Old Times on the Mississippi

Part VII: The Spirit of Liberty

Chapter 19: Thomas Jefferson: The Spirit of Resistance
Chapter 20: Henry David Thoreau: Civil Disobedience
Chapter 21: Voltairine de Cleyre: Anarchism and American Traditions
Chapter 22: U.S. Justice Department: Opinion on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Chapter 23: U.S. Supreme Court: Upholding the Individual’s Rights of the 2nd Amendment

Part VIII: Open America Chapter 24: Emma Lazarus: Poem on the Statue of Liberty

Chapter 25: John Quincy Adams: On Foreign Policy
Chapter 26: Rose Wilder Lane: Give Me Liberty

Afterword: William Bonner

Meet the AuthorsView Full Bios

Bill Bonner
Since founding Agora Inc. in 1979, Bill Bonner has found success and garnered camaraderie in numerous communities and industries. A man of many talents, his entrepreneurial savvy, unique writings, philanthropic undertakings, and preservationist activities have all been recognized and awarded by some of America's most respected authorities. Along with Addison Wiggin, his friend and colleague, Bill has written two New York Times best-selling books, Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. Both works have been critically acclaimed internationally, and recently updated. With political journalist Lila Rajiva, he wrote his third New York Times best-selling book, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, which offers concrete advice on how to avoid the public spectacle of modern finance. Since 1999, Bill has been a daily contributor and the driving force behind The Daily Reckoning. Dice Have No Memory: Big Bets & Bad Economics from Paris to the Pampas, the new book from Bill Bonner, is now available for purchase. It is the definitive compendium of Bill’s daily reckonings from more than a decade: 1999-2010.
Pierre Lemieux
Pierre Lemieux, economist, author, professor, and consultant, Pierre Lemieux is Senior Fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute. He holds a Research Fellow Position at The Independent Institute in Oakland, California and is affiliated with the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Outaouais.

Lemieux, a frequent contributor to the National Post, has been published in Paris and Montreal and translated into various languages. His most recent work is Somebody in Charge: A Solution for Recessions (New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2011), which speaks to his focus on individual liberty. Lemieux currently lives in Maine. He maintains websites at pierrelemieux.org and pierrelemieux.com.

ReviewsView All

Dr. Richard Rahn on The Idea of America

“For two centuries, America existed as a unique and most successful country. Why America? William Bonner and Pierre Lemieux have answered that question by putting together a short compilation of the best historical essays and short documents that explain and express American exceptionalism. Those seeking an understanding of America, whether they are non-Americans or Americans with little understanding of American history, can do no better than to read this book.” -Dr. Richard Rahn, Senior Fellow, CATO InstituteRead More…

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What’s Inside

From Laissez Faire Books

Meet the AuthorsView Full Bios

Bill Bonner

Pierre Lemieux

ReviewsView All

Dr. Richard Rahn on The Idea of America