The Americans

1905. The only aim of the book is to study the American man and his inner tendencies; and, perhaps a truer name for my book would have been The Philosophy of Americanism. For such a task the outsider may be, after all, not quite unsuited, since the characteristic forces make themselves more easily felt by him than by those who have breathed the atmosphere from their childhood. I am, therefore, anxious to insist that the accent of the book likes on the four chapters, Spirit of Self-Direction, Spirit of Self-Realization, Spirit of Self-Perfection, and Spirit of Self-Assertion; while those chapters on the economic and political problems are the least important of the book, as they are meant merely by way of illustration. The lasting forces and tendencies of American life are my topics, and not the problems of the day. For this reason the book is translated as it appeared six months ago in Germany, and the events and statistical figures of the last few months have not been added; the Philosophy of Americanism is independent of the happenings of yesterday.