Did Puritanism evolve into Americanism?

I was hoping to join the quarterly symposium at The Evangelical Outpost, but it ended up being a much busier weekend than I had anticipated. The subject is David Gerlernter's essay in Commentary: Americanism -- and Its Enemies. In the essay Gerlernter argues that Puritanism did not just disappear in the late 1700s or early 1800s, but rather it continued to evolve into a modern-day "ism" that Gerlernter calls "Americanism."

The trifold creed of Americanism, he writes, is the belief in and support for freedom, equality, and democracy. These three ideals are embraced by those of many (or no) religious beliefs, but have a specifically Judeo-Christian foundation. It is by this thread that Gerlernter draws the connection between Americanism and Puritanism.

If there is a failing in the essay it's that Gerlernter spends so much time examining American history to prove his thesis that he never goes very far in addressing where Americanism/neo-Puritanism will take us in the future. I may eventually try to tackle the subject this week, which is past the deadline for submissions, but I think it's an interesting topic.

The list of submissions that actually did meet the deadline may be found here.