The Intellectual Construction of America: Exceptionalism and Identity from 1492 to 1800

Jack Greene explores the changing definitions of America from the time of Europe's first contact with the New World through the establishment of the American republic. Challenging historians who have argued that colonial American societies differed little from those of early modern Europe, he shows that virtually all contemporary observers emphasized the distinctiveness of the new worlds being created in America. This concept of American societies' exceptionalism, suggests Greene, was a central component in their emerging identity. "Greene's important book, in reminding us of the ways in which contemporaries identified America as an exceptional place promising opportunity unattainable in the Old World, has shifted the terms of debate for those who are interested in the relationship between colony and metropolis in the early modern period". -- Journal of Southern History "This beautifully produced volume is topical, readable and provocative. It will fuel debate over which master narrative, if any, best explains American identity". -- American Studies