American Creed: Philanthropy and the Rise of Civil Society, 1700-1865. By Kathleen D. McCarthy. (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Pp. xii, 319. $35.00.)
Thomas Jefferson formulated the "American Creed" in the Declaration of Independence, and in identifying his four most significant accomplishments, Kathleen D. McCarthy asserts in this new study that Jefferson's American creed is "faith in egalitarian ideals, religious freedom, and the right to engage in ...