[Foreword] American thought from colonial times to the present is so vast and ramified a subject that only the most intrepid explorer would venture to investigate it alone.

[Prologue] At the very beginning of this volume it may be helpful to sketch a pattern that seems to emerge from the essays to follow.

In 1740 America's leading intellectuals were clergymen and thought about theology; in 1790 they were statesmen and thought about politics.