Jay Gatsby and the Myth of American Origins

America’s supreme economic, political and military power in the world is matched,
says Leo Marx, by “correspondingly ardent, patriotic, nationalistic …thinking of a large number of Americans, dedicated to the idea of America’s unique, divinely ordained role in the world." But this “amalgam of Christian fundamentalist religion and dogmatic patriotism is…deeply rooted in our history,” he continues.

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Leo Marx, Senior Lecturer, Kenan Professor of American Cultural History, Emeritus (STS)