INTRODUCTION For over five centuries the New World has been an object of curiosity to the Old, and for almost half of that time the United States, ...

A collection of essays and lectures from Henry Steele Commager, one of America's eminent historians. The focus is on the age of enlightenment, with particular attention to Thomas Jefferson, and how enlightenment philosophy shaped the birth of the United States.

In this paper for the Aspen Institute, the author illustrates again his own wisdom and lucidity as well as the enduring nature of many of Tocqueville's questions and judgments.