Religion professor Stephen Prothero’s “The American Bible” looks at the books, speeches and songs that carry the American spirit.

Stephen Prothero, a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books, including The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation.

CNN "In July 1846, while living in his Walden Pond cabin, Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau was arrested and jailed for refusing to pay a poll tax. This classic essay explains and justifies his refusal, arguing that each citizen has a duty to resist a government whose actions — in this case, supporting slavery, mistreating Indians and prosecuting the Mexican-American War — offend the higher law of conscience."

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