Wood also traces the origins of American exceptionalism to this period, revealing how the revolutionary generation, despite living in a distant, sparsely populated country, believed itself to be the most enlightened people on earth. As Wood reveals, while the founders hoped to create a virtuous republic of yeoman farmers and uninterested leaders, they instead gave birth to a sprawling, licentious, and materialistic popular democracy. In a series of elegant and illuminating essays, Wood explores the ideological origins of the revolution-from ancient Rome to the European Enlightenment-and the founders' attempts to forge an American democracy. In The Idea of America, Wood reflects on the birth of American nationhood and explains why the revolution remains so essential. Since American identity is so fluid and not based on any universally shared heritage, we have had to continually return to our nation's founding to understand who we are. Wood believes that the American Revolution is the most important event in our history, bar none. For this reason, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. More than almost any other nation in the world, the United States began as an idea. The preeminent historian of the American Revolution explains why it remains the most significant event in our history.
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