America's British Culture » (1st Edition)

Elegantly written and deeply learned, America's British Culture is an insightful inquiry into history and a plea for cultural renewal and continuity. Kirk discerns four essential areas of the influence of Great Britain. The language and literature of England carried with it a tradition of liberty and order as well as certain assumptions about the human condition and ethical conduct. American common and positive law, being derived from English law, gives fuller protection to the individual than does the legal system of any other country. The American form of representative government is patterned on the English parliamentary system. Finally, there is the body of mores - moral habits, beliefs, conventions, customs - that compose an ethical heritage.