The American Spirit in Literature: A Chronicle of Great Interpreters

By Bliss Perry
A Chronicle of Great Interpreters
Volume 34 of the Chronicles of America Series ∴ Allen Johnson, Editor Assistant Editors Gerhard R. Lomer Charles W. Jefferys
Abraham Lincoln Edition
New Haven: Yale University Press Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press 1918
Copyright, 1918 by Yale University Press

THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE
The Pioneers
The United States of America has been from the beginning in a perpetual change. The physical and mental restlessness of the American and the temporary nature of many of his arrangements are largely due to the experimental character of the exploration and development of this continent. The new energies released by the settlement of the colonies were indeed guided by stern determination, wise forethought, and inventive skill; but no one has ever really known the outcome of the experiment. It is a story of faith, of
Effort, and expectation, and desire, And something evermore about to be.