The American Jeremiad and National Identity
The American jeremiad is what shaped the identity of America and its values that are part of the American life. The American jeremiad adds a dimension of hope and fear. It adds tension to generate motivation for progress. It seeks to unify people by creating tension between ideal social life and its real manifestation. Bercovitch explains the Americans believe they have a mission and they are meant to be the best. He argues that America is not flawless and America has never succeeded because they continue to ask themselves “When is our errand to be fulfilled?” This new land was sacred for the Puritans and this new land gave them an opportunity to define themselves and define what America should be.
This new land became a secular and sacred place. The Jeremiad is what reminded America of their mission to be a “City upon a Hill.” It aimed to direct people back to God so they can fulfill their destiny.
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The European and American Puritan jeremiads are different.
Bercovitch sums up the characteristics of the American jeremiad, “first, a precedent from Scripture that sets out the communal norms; then, a series of condemnations that detail the actual state of the community and finally a prophetic vision that unveils the promises and announces the good things to come.” It starts out by explaining how it should be, then it states the actual complaint, and finally it has a vision that the people need to work towards.
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It is about realizing the wrong and moving away from the negative and fixing the problems. Bercovitch relates social and religious issues to economics and politics by stating, “I am suggesting that ‘the process of Americanization’ began not with the decline of Puritanism but with the Great Migration, and that the jeremiad, accordingly, played a significant role in the development of what was to become modern middle-class American culture. I hope that in suggesting this I do not seem to be over-straining the worn links bet…
The American Jeremiad and National Identity. (2019, Nov 27). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-the-american-jeremaid/
