Some Important Things About America From the social theorist Max Weber

Protestantism Who founded this country? Think about it for a second. The Puritans, who were a radical sect of Protestants, escaping persecution in Europe (namely England). Formal definition: the “several church denominations denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the Reformation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth.” —Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary

Puritans The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, by Robert W. Weir, 1837.

Who are Protestants? Think of the things you know about Protestant culture. What are some aspects of Protestant beliefs and how they impact America’s foundation? Do they also effect America today? How many people in the United States, at this moment, are Protestant? Of the 78.4% of our adult population who identify as Christian, 51.3% are Protestant.

The Protestant Ethic Protestantism is often associated with a concept called the “Protestant Ethic.” This term refers to the “ethic that stresses the virtue of hard work, thrift, and self-discipline.” —Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Does this sound like our national identity, or how we would like to describe our virtues as a nation? What does this term mean to you?

Max Weber Weber was a prominent social theorist, often considered as influential as Karl Marx. He grew up in a German Protestant family in Europe. Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, was also German. He began his most famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism around 1904, shortly after he visited the United States for the first time. The visit made a tremendous impression on him.

Max Weber What is capitalism? Formal definition: “a way of organizing an economy so that things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather than owned by the government.” —Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary This is the economic system of our country.

Max Weber Weber argued that our success as a country depended largely on our strong capitalist economy. He saw the origins of our nation, including the aspects of the Protestant ethic, as an explanation for why our economy was so robust. The beliefs that Protestants held, about working hard as an act of religious devotion, and that certain Puritans believed, about Predestination, meant that practitioners of these religious tenets sought success in the earthly business world as a clue that they would be in God’s favor.

Max Weber “Protestantism singlehandedly made y’all a world superpower!” —Max Weber, basically.

American Businessmen Many of the most influential businessmen in America were Protestants: Cornelius Vanderbilt (shipping, railroads) Andrew Carnegie (steel) John D. Rockefeller (oil) J.P. Morgan (finance, electricity, steel)

Who? Carnegie Hall J.P. Morgan Chase Bank The Rockefeller Center Vanderbilt University

Religious Freedom It is always important to remember that our nation was founded on principles of religious freedom. Puritans immigrated here to maintain their beliefs. Our Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson, were spiritual but not religious. They still penned the First Amendment of the Constitution which permits religious freedom. In what other ways has religious freedom impacted our country?

Works Cited http://religions.pewforum.org/reports http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weber/ http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/protestantethic/summary.html http://en.wikipedia.org