http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
how our words unite, divide, and define a nation
America has been a nation that has unfolded as much on the page and the podium as on battlefields or in statehouses. Here Stephen Prothero reveals which texts continue to generate controversy and drive debate. He then puts these voices into conversation, tracing how prominent leaders and thinkers of one generation have commented upon the core texts of another, and invites readers to join in. Prothero takes the reader into the heart of America's culture wars. These 'scriptures' provide the words that continue to unite, divide and define Americans today.
Genesis. The Exodus story ; John Winthrop: "A model of Christian charity" (1630) ; Thomas Paine: Common sense (1776) ; The Declaration of Independence (1776) ; Noah Webster: The blue-back speller (1783- ) -- Law. The Constitution (1787) ; Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ; Roe v. Wade (1973) -- Chronicles. Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's cabin (1852) ; Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) ; Ayn Rand: Atlas shrugged (1957) -- Psalms. Francis Scott Key: "The star-spangled banner" (1814) -- Irving Berlin : "God bless America" (1938) ; Woody Guthrie: "This land is your land" (1940) -- Proverbs. Benjamin Franklin: "Remember that time is money" (1748) ; Benjamin Franklin: "God helps those who help themselves" (1758) ; Patrick Henry : "Give me liberty or give me death" (1775) ; Abigail Adams: "Remember the ladies" (1776) ; Sojourner Truth: "Ain't I a woman?" (1851) ; Abraham Lincoln: "With malice toward none, with charity for all" (1865) ; Chief Joseph : "I will fight no more forever" (1877) ; Calvin Coolidge: "The business of America is business" (1925) ; Franklin Delano Roosevelt: "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people" (1932) ; John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" (1962) ; Ronald Reagan: "evil empire" (1983) -- Prophets. Henry David Thoreau: "Civil Disobedience" (1849) ; Dwight Eisenhower: Farewell Address (1961) ; Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I have a dream" (1963) ; Malcolm X: The autobiography of Malcolm X (1965) -- Lamentations. Abraham Lincoln: Gettysburg address (1863) ; Maya Lin: Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) -- Gospels. Thomas Jefferson: First inaugural address (1801) ; Franklin Delano Roosevelt: First inaugural address (1933) ; Ronald Reagan: "The speech" (1964) -- Acts. The Pledge of Allegiance (1892, 1954) -- Epistles. George Washington: Farewell address (1796) ; Thomas Jefferson: "Letter to the Danbury Baptists" (1802) ; Martin Luther King Jr.: "Letter from Birmingham jail" (1963).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
National characteristics, American, in literature