A COUNTRY WITHOUT PRE-HISTORY
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in the daily routine as something given, they are nevertheless the
creation of its citizens. They refer little to the past, to the obscure
realm of traditions which are not, as it were, of human origin but
handed down from the gods; they are made by man and clearly
understood as a lay creation.
The basic body of myths in the American civilization is prob–
ably best represented by the Constitution, which
is
not only a juri–
dical instrument regulating important aspects of social and political
life but vested, in the minds of the people, with the characteristics
of a myth. The framers of the Constitution and those who have suc–
cessively added the various amendments, have given the people of
the United States definite answers, valid for the whole com–
munity, to the basic questions of social and political life. The Con–
stitution, thus,
is
regarded as the highest symbol of man's aspirations.
It
is treated as are the objects of religious veneration In some societies
or the symbols of the State in others. The Preamble
is
memorized in
American schools, like the verses of the Gospels or the pronounce–
ments of a Fuehrer in the schools of other countries.
To summarize the differences between the organic and con–
tractual societies, we might say that in the first the ends-or their
objectification, the myths-are immanent, while in the second they
are transcendent. (We do not consider here the case of the great
civilizations of the East with pre-eminently immanent myths but a
generally a-historical conception.) In other words, in organic
societies, there is an intimate connection between the ideality repre–
sented by the myth and the reality of daily life. Both are part of
the process of history. In the contractual society the myth, being
the product of the intellect, represents a permanent framework
within which the daily life of the society takes place. No amend–
ment to the Constitution will ever change its character as a frame–
work, its transcendent character with respect to the activities that
it purports to regulate. The cleavage between the unchanging myth
and the changing life of the society, between idea or ideality on
one side and positive reality on the other side,
is
one of the keys
to American life.
Whatever the differences between the parties in America, what–
ever their specific interpretation of the Constitution, they are agreed
