The Americans: The National
Experience by Daniel J. Boorstin
What Makes Us Americans
Daniel J. Boorstin, one of Americas great historians, focuses on American
ingenuity and emergent nationalism in this middle book of the Americans
trilogy, dealing with a period extending roughly from the Revolution to the
Civil War. Like its two companion volumes, The National Experience is a
sometimes quirky look at how certain patterns of living helped shape the
character of the United States. The book simply overflows with ideas, all
of them introduced in entertaining chapters on subjects such as the New
England ice industry and the boomtowns of the Midwest. Boorstin is a
delight to read, a genuine polymath whose wide-ranging interests and love
of learning show up on every page. --John J. Miller
Personal Review: The Americans: The National Experience by
Daniel J. Boorstin
This work is absolutely dazzling, totally unlike any other history you will
ever read. It is NOT a boring (or exciting) recount of wars, laws, political
battles and big events - it is what future historians will say when they

analyze the origin and growth of the United States. Over and over,
Boorstin contrasts the Old World (European) with the New, noting the huge
differences in purpose and direction and even meaning.
Several themes emerge: First and perhaps foremost, despite the fact that
we are a nation of laws we made up a lot of it as we went along. The
saving grace - and a point made endlessly - is that ours was never an
ideological struggle and to this day Americans, unlike Europeans, are wary
of ideology. Not only did we reject the idea of a radical transformation of
society, we fought to preserve the status quo, i.e. the ability of the states to
rule themselves. Our political parties were non-ideological. We embraced
common law - a point that bears repeating over and over. Laws were
interpreted for each new situation (based on some basic principles) rather
than codified in mind-numbing detail in an attempt to made a final and
definitive ruling on every possible case.
Much of the book dealt with the expansion of the country. He points out
that the very vagueness of national purpose was an instrument in the great
march Westward. Expansion of the nation beyond its original boundaries
was not a given by any means and was actively opposed by many of the
great minds. But once it started, we established a pattern that was used to
introduce state after state. It is noteworthy that our form of government is
replicated on the federal, state and city levels. Paradoxically, the power of
the states is an asset not a hindrance to national unity. The book is filled
with little-known biographies of people who were instrumental in the
nation's progress. My grade - A+
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