The great promise of our national motto, E pluribus unum, has always been just beyond our reach. Forging a unified American identity out of the many peoples who claim it as their own is what Abraham Lincoln referred to as our "great unfinished work." In an era when that identity seems more elusive than ever, with democracy itself under siege, this anthology is a reflection on the core values that hold us together. In 26 essays by American campaigners, builders, entrepreneurs, journalists, theologians, and historians, this collection confronts the universal and radically democratic values at the heart of the American project. At this time, when the country needs a new movement strong enough to defeat authoritarianism and write democracy's next chapter, the essays urge us to remember what inspired the people who came before us, who managed time and again to defy tyranny and move the project forward.
The authors were asked to look at their fields through a lens of American Universalism-the movement from Lincoln's time that emphasized universal freedom, universal rights, and universal opportunity. The resulting essays are a complex, nuanced look at America today as well as a view toward America tomorrow, as we continue to take on what Lincoln called "the great task remaining before us." We present this anthology in the humble hope that it will help us remember the simple, radical American idea that we can also be a single powerful force for good-a people dedicated to the proposition that we are all created equal and free.
