"Contrary to colloquial usage, a myth is not a story that is patently untrue. A myth is a story that speaks of meaning and purpose, and for that reason it speaks truth to those who take it seriously. An American myth, therefore, is a story that conveys commonly shared convictions on the purposes and meaning of the nation."
"Our national myths, then, are the stories that explain why we love our country and why we have faith in the nation's purposes. Put another way, our national myths are the means by which we affirm the meaning of the United States."
"There are five myths. Each is rooted in a religious understanding of reality, and each has emerged in a particular period of American history. If we understand these myths, we will understand much about the historic periods that produced them. At the same time, all these myths flourish to varying degrees today, and often in combination with one another."
"Most of these myths hold great potential for good. Yet Americans have often absolutized these myths in ways that undermine the virtues that otherwise stood at their respective cores. This is the irony of American history. The ironic tendency of virtues to turn into vices when too complacently relied upon. Moreover, it is precisely when powerful people absolutize their virtues that the interest of the poor and marginalized are most at risk."
"The first myth--the myth of the Chosen People--emerged among the
Puritans in the colonial period of American history. In its original
form "chosenness" meant "chosen for the good of the neighbor." In time,
however, Americans would absolutize this myth and claim that God chose
the American people for special blessings and privileges in the world.
At the very least, many still believe today that, in some mysterious
way, God chose the American people for a special, redeeming role on the
stage of world history."
"The second myth--the myth of Nature's Nation-- was a construction of
the Enlightenment and emerged in the Revolutionary Era. This myth
affirmed the American Creed (all men created eaqual, right to life,
liberty, pursuit of happiness), for it grounded the rights of humankind
in "nature," that is the way things were meant to be. In order to
justify the oppressive dimensions of American culture in the 19th
century, some Americans absolutized this myth, as well. They would
argue that "nature" had "decreed" the removal of Native Americans and
the enslavement of African Americans. The myth of Nature's Nation
contributed significantly to American myopia. To this day, our
particular versions of democracy and capitalism seem so "natural" that
many Americans cannot imagine that there might be viable alternatives."
"The third myth--the myth of the Christian Nation--was a byproduct of
the Second Great Awakening and emerged in the early national period. It
summoned Americans to embrace behavior in keeping with the teachings
of Jesus. Ironically, however, this myth married itself rather quickly
to the myth of the Chosen People and the myth of Nature's Nation. In
this way, Americans absolutized this myth, and the notion of a
Christian Nation became a badge of cultural superiority, not an
incentive to extend compassion to the poor and oppressed. In due time,
therefore, many came to believe that God had chosen America for special
privilege in the world, precisely because America was thought to be a
Christian nation."
"The fourth myth--the myth of the Millennial Nation--also emerged in
the early national period. Struck with the wonders of the American
system of government, and especially with the newness of American
freedoms, many believed that the U.S. would usher in a millennial age
of freedom that would eventually bless all people's of the earth.
Americans have absolutized this myth and have sometimes been willing to
force others to be free, as was the case with the Spanish-American
War. More often, Americans imagined they would liberate the world
through sheer force of their example. Thus, when communism collapsed in
Eastern Europe, President George Bush attributed that collapse to the
compelling power of the American presence in the world. Here was
another step toward the millennial dawn."
"The absolutized versions of these myths--Chosen Nation, Nature's
Nation, Christian Nation, and Millennial Nation--came together in the
19th century to define the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. Manifest
Destiny is an outgrowth of the absolutized versions of the earlier
myths. Manifest Destiny completely undermined the promise of the U.S.,
especially for Native Americans, Mexicans, and African Americans."
"After the Civil War, laissez-faire capitalism flourished in the U.S.
Capitalism was a doctrine grounded in the earlier myths, as well.
Capitalism promoted hard work and individual effort and therefore held
great potential for good, however, it also had the potential to nurture
greed and exploitation of the economically deprived. This is precisely
what happened when Americans of the late 19th century began to promote
capitalism, self-interest, and greed as fundamentally natural, as
inherently Christian, as the handmaid to American chosenness, and as
the presupposition for the dawn of the final golden age."
"These
assumptions about American capitalism sustained the Gospel of Wealth at
home and economic imperialism abroad in the waning years of the 19th
century, and they helped crush the poor in many corners of the world,
including our own. Yet because the mythic dimensions of American
capitalism seemed so self-evident, many Americans could never see the
ways in which capitalism helped to undermine the American Creed of all
men being created equal and the unalienable right to life, liberty, and
pursuit of happiness."
"The fifth and final myth--the myth of the Innocent Nation--emerged in
the 20th century and draws its strengths from all the other myths that
have defined American life in previous periods. The myth of innocence
is therefore, in many ways, the most powerful myth of all. Yet this
myth alone seems without redemptive value. It tells no meaningful
story, because it is finally grounded in self-delusion. The emergence
of this myth depended to a great extent on America's participation in
two world wars. World War II was especially important in this regard,
for it allowed Americans to imagine that because they faced great evil,
they themselves, were altogether righteous in both intent and behavior
and therefore innocent in the world."
--Richard Hughes (edited).
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