Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, cont'd

This will be our second (and possibly last) meeting on Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, by Matthew Stewart. For this meeting, please try to read chapters 4 and 6. (You can skim chapter 5, which is particularly confusing).
Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy?
America’s founders intended to liberate us not just from one king but from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion. Drawing deeply on the study of European philosophy, Matthew Stewart brilliantly tracks the ancient, pagan, and continental ideas from which America’s revolutionaries drew their inspiration. In the writings of Spinoza, Lucretius, and other great philosophers, Stewart recovers the true meanings of “Nature’s God,” “the pursuit of happiness,” and the radical political theory with which the American experiment in self-government began.
LINK

This book is not always an easy read. You may want to make use of AI tools such as ChatGPT. You can ask it questions like:
"What does Matthew Stewart say about happiness in his book Nature's God?" OR:
What does Matthew Stewart say about Spinoza?

This may be our last meeting on this book. If you want to have a third meeting later, on the last two chapters, let me know.

I hope to see you there!

Fred