In her fascinating and provocative historical reassessment, Caroline Winterer debunks the commonly accepted myth of an American Enlightenment--a unitary, patriotic, eighteenth-century golden era of reason and intellectual exploration ushered in by the founding of the American republic in 1776. From back cover.
Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910
The book offers a thorough examination of how classicism was studied and perceived in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It highlights the significant decline of ancient influences in contemporary thought, revealing the cultural shifts that led to this transformation. Through meticulous research, the author uncovers the factors contributing to the fading presence of classical ideas in American society.