American Political Thought

This updated reader in American thought contains 39 major selections covering the full range of thinkers from the early colonial days to the present, examining the origins of American political values and beliefs and the ways in which Americans think about their future. It is organized in five chronological periods, each with a context-setting essay, and an annotated bibliography. This fourth edition offers a new mix of material, including excerpts from the Articles of Confederation as well as writings by Ben Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some contributors are: Thomas Paine; John Adams; Franklin Roosevelt; Martin Luther King; Betty Friedan; Ronald Reagen; and Albert Gore, Jr.. As a self-contained one-semester course text, this book aims to provide an introduction to a critical understanding of the American political system.