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First and foremost Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Over two hundred years later Tocqueville's seminal work still rings true regarding the American ethic.
As for more contemporary writers, I can't think of anyone who captures the nature of the country in toto. Clear Twain, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Baldwin, Huges and Wolfe capture the essence of different periods and classes but their works, at least to me, are more micro-analytical.
Other than our great National documents (Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc) and the Bible, I would say Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand might be a good one to read in our unsettled times. She outlines the destruction of a free, capitalist society by Big Brother government, while the people sit idly by, doing nothing to stop their demise.
"Atlas Shrugged" is the most important literary work as far as influence. It radicalized the political right. Its readers created the Libertarian Party. Most of the thinkers in right-wing think tanks like Cato Institute, the most influential think tank in the country, are fans of the book. Margaret Thatcher's advisors were fans of it, too. It still sells over 100,000 copies a year 50 years after its publication.
While Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead made me say, "Well, of course!" And Democracy in America was very enlightening, I have to say that, for the common man's approach to personal independence, socio-political machinations and how to associate with them, an accent on living with reason instead of emotion, and long lasting impact, Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love" was the most simply rational and expository work. I cheerfully admit that I am a "science fiction" reader, but I am more of a Heinlein and Herbert (Dune) fan, because they don't just tell a surface story of future battles with fun toys, but show the behind-the-scenes development of, and avaricious need for, power that influences so many - and how one can subvert the heightened-emotional control of others without becoming their victims. While Rand is all about reason and rationality, Heinlein and Herbert give you backgrounds, what to expect from people and why, what drives them, as well as what conquers them. Plus I could introduce my children to them at an early age and not be pedantic. Lasting influence is not forced, but creeps into the mind via impressions, garnered knowledge, and experiences. Heinlein also had a vision of women as intelligent and respected equals, well ahead of his time in his writings, as did Herbert - without the fanatical or radical feminism. Again, common sense and reason, as well as turning their own enemies' wants and needs against them in whatever political times, direct their heroes' actions. Not everyone can be a John Galt - but anyone can be a Lazarus or Maud Dib.
Mickey Spillane. His were the first books that dared to openly say what people would omly admit to thinking in the privacy of their own thought. Spillane was the watershed that led to the "everything goes" permissiveness in entertainment and the arts. They were read by unimaginably large numbers of Americans, seven of the top 15 best selling fiction books in US history.
Since the topic specifies "American Spirit", is it the intention of the Bible nominators that God was speaking directly and specifically to the American people?
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Lasting influence is not forced, but creeps into the mind via impressions, garnered knowledge, and experiences. Heinlein also had a vision of women as intelligent and respected equals, well ahead of his time in his writings, as did Herbert - without the fanatical or radical feminism. Again, common sense and reason, as well as turning their own enemies' wants and needs against them in whatever political times, direct their heroes' actions. Not everyone can be a John Galt - but anyone can be a Lazarus or Maud Dib.
