Twenty-five essays, culled from the Journal of the History of Ideas, cover the unique participation of America in the international Enlightenment. The book is divided into two sections: Discourses of Religion, Science and the Nature of Man (including articles on Jonathan Edwards' early philosophical notes, Joel Barlow, Cotton Mather and Benjamin Rush) and Colonization, (Thomas Jefferson on Liberty, Dutch and American Federalism, and the `Ideologica Americana'.) The essays demonstrate the plurality of voices that enlightened Americans heard, and the distinctiveness of their responses. Contributors: RICK KENNEDY, WALLACE E. ANDERSON, STEPHEN R. YARBROUGH, JEFFREY JESKE, NORMAN S. FIERING, DAVID BIDNEY, JOHN C. GREENE, DONALD J. D'ELIA, S. GERALD SANDLER, RALPH L. KETCHAM, CONSTANCE B. SCHULZ, JOSEPH L. BLAU, KICHAEL J. KAMMEN, LESTERH. COHEN, GILBERT CHINARD, WILLIAM H. RIKER, ROY BRANSON, J.W. COOKE, DAVID M. POST, MARCELLO MAESTRO, GARY KATES, EDWIN A. MILES, V.P. BYNACK, RICHARD HOFSTADTER and J.G.A. POCOCK.