Americans, The

The Americans by Hugo Münsterberg stands alongside Alexis de Tocqueville's American Democracy as one of the great works on the New World written by a scholar deeply familiar with the Old World. When originally published, it gave the German public a sense of American life, and was described as "a book which deals in a detailed way with the political, economic, intellectual, and social aspects of American culture." Münsterberg, a world-renowned psychologist at the turn of the twentieth century, noted that "its purpose is to interpret systematically the democratic ideals of America." The primary aim of The Americans is to study the people and America's inner tendencies. It offers a "philosophy of Americanism," the ideology of a people writ whole. Münsterberg's sense of the "spirit" of a people, rather than facts about the people, is revealed in his four cardinal chapters: Self-Direction, Self-Realization, Self-Perfection, and Self-Assertion. While he covers the economic premises of the free market and the politics of party affairs, he considers these the least important. Instead it is the lasting forces and tendencies of American life, rather than problems of the day, that occupy the author. This focus was shared by German readers, for whom the book was conceived, and for those in the United States who read the book in English.

The dynamic of strong basic tendencies of democratic forces and lesser, but significant, aristocratic tendencies underwrites the strains and tensions in American society. It also defines the special nature of a book, written more than one hundred years ago, that retains its lively sense of purpose and deep insight into American life. One could well say that this book is required reading in this day and age for Americans and Europeans alike. This is a neglected masterpiece.

1905. The only aim of the book is to study the American man and his inner tendencies; and, perhaps a truer name for my book would have been The Philosophy of Americanism. For such a task the outsider may be, after all, not quite unsuited, since the characteristic forces make themselves more easily felt by him than by those who have breathed the atmosphere from their childhood. I am, therefore, anxious to insist that the accent of the book likes on the four chapters, Spirit of Self-Direction, Spirit of Self-Realization, Spirit of Self-Perfection, and Spirit of Self-Assertion; while those chapters on the economic and political problems are the least important of the book, as they are meant merely by way of illustration. The lasting forces and tendencies of American life are my topics, and not the problems of the day. For this reason the book is translated as it appeared six months ago in Germany, and the events and statistical figures of the last few months have not been added; the Philosophy of Americanism is independent of the happenings of yesterday.

Hugo Münsterberg (1863-1916) was a professor of psychology at Harvard University. He was widely known for his work in the fields of the applications of psychology to law, business, industry, medicine, teaching, and sociology. He was also a leader in the field of behaviorism for his work, which defines attention in terms of the openness of the nerve paths to the muscles of adjustment. In 1898 he was elected president of the American Psychological Association. Among his works are Psychology and Industrial Efficiency, Psychotherapy, On the Witness Stand, Psychology and Crime, and The Eternal Values.

John J. Bukowczyk is professor of history at Wayne State University. He is author or editor of four books and author of numerous journal articles. He is also editor of the Journal of American Ethnic History.