The Puritans as a symbol for America
This book focuses its early attention on the nearly-mythic nature of Puritan life in the early Americas. Puritans were often incredibly tribal in their approach to community and life, but that closeness was forged under extreme duress, with the New World's harsh winters and tedious relations with Native people groups. Their life shows a kind of group pride that compares nicely to later forms of American nationalism.
Crops as a sign of American culture
When the Europeans arrived in the New World, a new beautiful thing happened. They exchanged farming methods, learning from each other. During times of peace, Native Americans taught the Europeans how to do life with nature in this new place with its own plant and animal life. The European adaptation is symbolized in this historical retelling in the new staple crops, like corn and root vegetables.
Pictures of nationalism
There is a motif of nationalism, because pride for the pioneering spirit of American culture has been a theme in each slice of American history, says this book. That doesn't mean there aren't critics: The book mentions the controversial war in Vietnam. The point is though that the (also deeply American) culture of the hippies is plain evidence that many people in America still felt attachment to that nationalism. This also illustrates that nationalism has its faults.
The Revolution as an allegory
The American Revolution is explained in this book for its narrative merit, because as a moment in history, it could be the first of its kind, especially in the West. The timing placed America's blossoming right on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, resulting in unimaginable wealth and global power. Where the lines of that power should stop has been one of the most difficult questions in the last hundred years, says the book, citing America's participation in global warfares.
America as the force of globalism
The enterprising spirit of the Europeans who settled the New World quickly became the tenacious community pride and hard-working survival of the Puritans, which then evolved through time as governments became more established. Soon, the seeds that were planted by colonizers were coming into full fruition, and America stakes its own claim, becoming independent from Britain and rising to power through industry and world trade. The book shows this narrative as an allegory of globalization unfolding on the earth.
