Introduction: American enlightenments -- The American setting -- Seashells in the Appalachians -- The civilization of the Aztecs -- The science of statistics and the invention of the "Indian population" -- Slavery in an enlightened age -- Religion in the Age of Reason -- The futuristic farmers of America -- Republics versus monarchies -- Epilogue: The tusks of the mastodon
Summary
A provocative reassessment of the concept of an American golden age of European-born reason and intellectual curiosity in the years following the Revolutionary War
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-336) and index
