Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-310) and index.

Vox Americana -- Perceptions of America's native democracies -- Natural man in an unnatural land -- Ennobling "savages" -- Errand in the wilderness -- The white roots reach out -- Mohawks, axes, and taxes -- A new chapter -- An American synthesis -- Kindling a new grand council fire -- The persistence of an idea. "We attempt to trace both ideas and the events that dramatized them: life, liberty, and happiness (Declaration of Independence); government by reason and consent rather than coercion (Albany Plan and Articles of Confederation); religious toleration (and ultimately religious acceptance) instead of a state church; checks and balances; federalism (United States Constitution); and relative equality of property, equal rights before the law, and the thorny problem of creating a government that can rule equitably across a broad geographic expanse (Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution). Native America had a substantial role in shaping these ideas, as well as the events that turned the colonies into a nation of states.