Cultus Americanus: Varieties of the Liberal Tradition in American Political Culture, 1600-1865
By (Author) Brent Gilchrist
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Lexington Books
5th March 2007
United States
General
Non Fiction
History of the Americas
320.5109730903
Paperback
314
Width 154mm, Height 233mm, Spine 24mm
476g
Cultus Americanus applies a philosophical model of political culture as ideology, religion, and myth to a re-consideration of America's liberal consensus to explain cultural diversity in America. Applying this model to the formative years of American political culture from 1600-1865 demonstrates that American diversity exists within a single, coherent cultural universe, dominated by a liberal ideology that is informed and supported by both a unique American religiosity and a vibrant American mythology. Author Brent Gilchrist engagingly depicts a political culture that is more complex and more cohesive than has been previously maintained that will be of great interest to scholars and students of American politics and history.
Is there an American political culture Brent Gilchrist finds an answer yes! in the confluence of ideology, religion and myth. Cultus Americanus is a bold, wise, ambitious, elegant reinterpretation of America itself. -- James A. Morone, author of Hellfire Nation and The Heart of Power
A deft marriage of history and political science, Cultus Americanus is arguably one of the most important post-Hartzian explorations of the American liberal tradition since the late J. David Greenstone's The Lincoln Persuasion (1993). -- Klaus Hansen, Queen's University
Brent Gilchrist is assistant professor at Brigham Young University.