... plain prose of their Puritan predecessors. They wrote history for their own satisfaction and to explain to the enlightened world the success of men like themselves: free, bold, intelligent, and ambitious. Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia is a highly evolved product of this rationalist tradition. America is for Jefferson, as it was for the Puritans, a model for ... nineteenth century, organized the history of America around three themes. These themes were progress, liberty, and Anglo-Saxon destiny. The Anglo-Saxons developed the most distinctive tradition of free institut...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate