Foundations of American Political Thought
Readings and Commentary

This collection of primary sources from the founding period covers the unique combination of theoretical influences in American political thought.

Alin Fumurescu (Author), Anna Marisa Schön (Author)

9781108733557, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 July 2023

419 pages
25.4 x 17.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.79 kg

'Alin Fumurescu and Anna Marisa Schön provide an excellent introduction to the foundations of American political thought with this collection of readings and commentary that showcases competing understandings of the American political order and contested notions of American exceptionalism. Beginning with the classical and modern sources of American political thought and concluding with Abraham Lincoln's profound reflections in the crucible of the Civil War, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars alike.' Justin Buckley Dyer, University of Missouri

American political thought was shaped by a unique combination of theoretical influences: republicanism, liberalism, and covenant theology. This reader shows how these influences came together. Organized chronologically from the Puritans' arrival in the New World to the Civil War, each chapter includes carefully selected primary sources and substantial commentary to explain the historical context and significance of the excerpts. A coherent interpretative framework is offered by focusing the analysis on the different assumptions of the people - the republican understanding as a corporate whole and the liberal understanding as a multitude of individuals - that were intertwined during the founding. The book features, for the first time, two chapters on non-American authors, who capture the main tenets of republicanism and liberalism and were widely quoted in the era, as well as excerpts from lesser-known sources, including Puritan covenants, the first state constitutions, and Native American speeches.

1. Introduction – The People's Two Bodies
2. Republicanism – The People 'Is'
3. Liberalism – The People 'Are'
4. The Puritans – The Bi-Dimensional Covenant
5. Independence – The Negative Founding
6. The Positive Founding (I): One People or Several Peoples? 7. The Positive Founding (II) – The People as One and Many
8. The Whole and the Parties
9. People That Were Left Behind
10. The United States 'Is'.

Subject Areas: Conservatism & right-of-centre democratic ideologies [JPFM], Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies [JPFK], Political science & theory [JPA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]