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Erikson, Erik H., dimensionsof anewidentity New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1974, 125 pp. ,$5.95.
This brief book contains the two lectures Prof. Erik H. Erikson delivered in May, 1973, at the second annual Jefferson Lectures in the Humanities.
In his opening lecture, Erikson provides insights into the evolution of the American character by studying the timbre and time of Thomas Jefferson, including his effort to reconcile an intense personal opposition to slavery with a sense of identity formed in good measure from his role as a participant in, and leader of, colonial American society - a society in which Jefferson was a curious combination of common man and aristocrat. He lived in a time when our young country's developmental thrust was energized by the conviction that hard work and patriotism would naturally lead to success - a success that was guided by, and in the natural order of, God. His intelligence, organizational ability, and diverse interests combined with...