{"product_id":"making-the-american-self-jonathan-edwards-to-abraham-lincoln-9780195387896","title":"Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln","description":"Originally published in 1997 and now back in print, \u003cem\u003eMaking the American Self\u003c\/em\u003e by Daniel Walker Howe, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003cem\u003eWhat Hath God Wrought\u003c\/em\u003e, charts the genesis and fascinating trajectory of a central idea in American history. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne of the most precious liberties Americans have always cherished is the ability to make something of themselves--to choose not only an occupation but an identity. Examining works by Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo\u003cbr\u003eEmerson, Margaret Fuller, and others, Howe investigates how Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries engaged in the process of self-construction, self-improvement, and the pursuit of happiness. He explores as well how Americans understood individual identity in relation to the larger body\u003cbr\u003epolitic, and argues that the conscious construction of the autonomous self was in fact essential to American democracy--that it both shaped and was in turn shaped by American democratic institutions. The thinkers described in this book, Howe writes, believed that, to the extent individuals\u003cbr\u003eexercised self-control, they were making free institutions--liberal, republican, and democratic--possible. And as the scope of American democracy widened so too did the practice of self-construction, moving beyond the preserve of elite white males to potentially all Americans. Howe concludes that\u003cbr\u003ethe time has come to ground our democracy once again in habits of personal responsibility, civility, and self-discipline esteemed by some of America's most important thinkers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eErudite, beautifully written, and more pertinent than ever as we enter a new era of individual and governmental responsibility, \u003cem\u003eMaking the American Self\u003c\/em\u003e illuminates an impulse at the very heart of the American experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Daniel Walker Howe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/22\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195387896\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Walker Howe\u003c\/strong\u003e is Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus, Oxford University and Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eWhat Hath God Wrought\u003c\/em\u003e (OUP 2007), which won the Pulitzer Prize in History, \u003cem\u003eThe Unitarian Conscience\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Political\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eCulture of the American Whigs\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Los Angeles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":39930776879219,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_4a3b0332-e019-48f3-a11d-4ae486d94f60.jpg?v=1647699527","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/making-the-american-self-jonathan-edwards-to-abraham-lincoln-9780195387896","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}