VIII. POE AND WHITMAN

IX. UNION AND LIBERTY

X. A NEW NATION

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

THE AMERICAN SPIRIT IN LITERATURE

CHAPTER I. 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.

An Alexander Hamilton may urge with passionate force the adoption
of the Constitution, without any firm conviction as to its
permanence. The most clear-sighted American of the Civil War
period recognized this element of uncertainty in our American
adventure when he declared: "We are now testing whether this