Jon Elster
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199281688
- eISBN:
- 9780191603747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199281688.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This essay considers how the American and French revolutionaries, famous defenders of the ideal of equality, contrived to evade the implications of that ideal when it came to slaves or workers. It ...
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This essay considers how the American and French revolutionaries, famous defenders of the ideal of equality, contrived to evade the implications of that ideal when it came to slaves or workers. It contends that the hypocrisy of the revolutionaries is particularly egregious given that they stood to profit personally from the reduced scope of their egalitarianism.Less
This essay considers how the American and French revolutionaries, famous defenders of the ideal of equality, contrived to evade the implications of that ideal when it came to slaves or workers. It contends that the hypocrisy of the revolutionaries is particularly egregious given that they stood to profit personally from the reduced scope of their egalitarianism.
J. Rixey Ruffin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195326512
- eISBN:
- 9780199870417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326512.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, ...
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William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, vision, and most importantly ideas, he was a unique and heretofore underappreciated member of the founding generation. To study his life is to study the intellectual world in which he moved and through which he cut a unique and illustrative path. In theological terms, he was both an Arminian and what this book calls a “Christian naturalist,” a combination that was both unique and volatile. For if his belief in the Arminian view of salvation put him at odds with his Calvinist contemporaries (including his senior colleague at the East Church), his unique denial of post‐biblical supernaturalism and his unique embrace of Socinianism (a denial of the divinity of Jesus more radical than what others would call “Unitarianism”) put him also at odds with other Arminians. But it was the only way that Bentley could keep both what he thought essential to Christianity and what he thought true about the natural world. In the realm of social ideology, he was both a classical liberal and a republican at the same time, but if he was able in the 1780s to be both, the 1790s would pull apart these dualities and see him move along the path to Jeffersonian Republicanism. But even here he was, among the New England clergy, alone, drawn to the party not by its support for disestablishment so much as by his unique approbation of Rousseau's state of nature theorizing. William Bentley's life, ministry, and thought allow a singular exploration of theology and philosophy as well as of ideology: of the social politics of race and class and gender, the ecclesiastical politics of establishment and dissent, and between minister and laity, the ideological politics of republicanism and classical liberalism, and the party politics of Federalism and Democratic‐Republicanism.Less
William Bentley was a Congregationalist pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, during the first few decades of independence. He was also a figure quite unlike anyone else in all of America. In talent, vision, and most importantly ideas, he was a unique and heretofore underappreciated member of the founding generation. To study his life is to study the intellectual world in which he moved and through which he cut a unique and illustrative path. In theological terms, he was both an Arminian and what this book calls a “Christian naturalist,” a combination that was both unique and volatile. For if his belief in the Arminian view of salvation put him at odds with his Calvinist contemporaries (including his senior colleague at the East Church), his unique denial of post‐biblical supernaturalism and his unique embrace of Socinianism (a denial of the divinity of Jesus more radical than what others would call “Unitarianism”) put him also at odds with other Arminians. But it was the only way that Bentley could keep both what he thought essential to Christianity and what he thought true about the natural world. In the realm of social ideology, he was both a classical liberal and a republican at the same time, but if he was able in the 1780s to be both, the 1790s would pull apart these dualities and see him move along the path to Jeffersonian Republicanism. But even here he was, among the New England clergy, alone, drawn to the party not by its support for disestablishment so much as by his unique approbation of Rousseau's state of nature theorizing. William Bentley's life, ministry, and thought allow a singular exploration of theology and philosophy as well as of ideology: of the social politics of race and class and gender, the ecclesiastical politics of establishment and dissent, and between minister and laity, the ideological politics of republicanism and classical liberalism, and the party politics of Federalism and Democratic‐Republicanism.
David Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198275282
- eISBN:
- 9780191598739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198275285.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
While there are important differences between the American Revolution and other revolutions, there are also some striking similarities. The basic ideas of the American outlook on international ...
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While there are important differences between the American Revolution and other revolutions, there are also some striking similarities. The basic ideas of the American outlook on international affairs emerged in the hundred years before the revolution. Central amongst these ideas was the need to build and secure a republic in North America. A fundamental debate took place after the revolution between the different views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as to the most appropriate American posture towards the rest of the world. The essential elements in this debate have continued to affect the US foreign policy.Less
While there are important differences between the American Revolution and other revolutions, there are also some striking similarities. The basic ideas of the American outlook on international affairs emerged in the hundred years before the revolution. Central amongst these ideas was the need to build and secure a republic in North America. A fundamental debate took place after the revolution between the different views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as to the most appropriate American posture towards the rest of the world. The essential elements in this debate have continued to affect the US foreign policy.
David Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198275282
- eISBN:
- 9780191598739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198275285.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on ...
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Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.Less
Revolutionary states have challenged international law in several ways. They tend to reject the underlying notion of international law that there is a society of states as well as the emphasis on maintaining order. They also see themselves as serving a higher and more permanent law—whether they define it in terms of god, nature, or history—than any transient, man‐made substitute. The French, American, Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian responses to international law are considered in detail. International law seems to grow in significance whenever it is placed under greatest pressure, and it may give intellectual coherence as well as authority to the established powers’ response to revolutionary states.
R. R. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161280
- eISBN:
- 9781400850228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161280.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first ...
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This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first and greatest effect of the American Revolution was to make Europeans believe, or rather feel, often in a highly emotional way, that they lived in a rare era of momentous change. They saw a kind of drama of the continents. The successful War of American Independence presented itself as a great act of retribution on a cosmic stage. There were many Europeans who said that America would someday, in its turn, predominate over Europe.Less
This chapter discusses the impact of the American Revolution on the democratic and revolutionary spirit in Europe, to the desire, that is, for a reconstitution of government and society. The first and greatest effect of the American Revolution was to make Europeans believe, or rather feel, often in a highly emotional way, that they lived in a rare era of momentous change. They saw a kind of drama of the continents. The successful War of American Independence presented itself as a great act of retribution on a cosmic stage. There were many Europeans who said that America would someday, in its turn, predominate over Europe.
R. R. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161280
- eISBN:
- 9781400850228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161280.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American ...
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This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American Revolution was the earliest successful assertion of the principle that public power must arise from those over whom it is exercised. It was the most important revolution of the eighteenth century, except for the French. Its effect on the area of Western Civilization came in part from the inspiration of its message (which in time passed beyond the area of Western Civilization), and in part from the involvement of the American Revolution in the European War of American Independence, which aggravated the financial or political difficulties of England, Ireland, Holland, and France.Less
This chapter discusses the players involved in the American Revolution, which is considered a great event for the whole Euro-American world. In the Age of the Democratic Revolution, the American Revolution was the earliest successful assertion of the principle that public power must arise from those over whom it is exercised. It was the most important revolution of the eighteenth century, except for the French. Its effect on the area of Western Civilization came in part from the inspiration of its message (which in time passed beyond the area of Western Civilization), and in part from the involvement of the American Revolution in the European War of American Independence, which aggravated the financial or political difficulties of England, Ireland, Holland, and France.
Sarah M. S. Pearsall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199532995
- eISBN:
- 9780191714443
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532995.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The Atlantic represented a world of opportunity in the 18th century, but it represented division also, separating families across its coasts. Whether due to economic shifts, changing political ...
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The Atlantic represented a world of opportunity in the 18th century, but it represented division also, separating families across its coasts. Whether due to economic shifts, changing political landscapes, imperial ambitions, or even simply personal tragedy, many families found themselves fractured and disoriented by the growth and later fissure of a larger Atlantic world. Such dislocation posed considerable challenges to all individuals who viewed orderly family relations as both a general and a personal ideal. The more fortunate individuals who thus found themselves ‘all at sea’ were able to use family letters, with attendant emphases on familiarity, sensibility, and credit, in order to remain connected in times and places of great disconnection. Portraying the family as a unified, affectionate, and happy entity in such letters provided a means of surmounting concerns about societies fractured by physical distance, global wars, and increasing social stratification. It could also afford social and economic leverage to individual men and women in certain circumstances. This book explores the lives and letters of these families, revealing the sometimes shocking stories of those divided by sea in a series of microhistories. Ranging across the Anglophone Atlantic, including mainland American colonies and states, Britain, and the British Caribbean, the book argues that it was this expanding Atlantic world — much more than the American Revolution — that reshaped contemporary ideals about families, as much as families themselves reshaped the transatlantic world.Less
The Atlantic represented a world of opportunity in the 18th century, but it represented division also, separating families across its coasts. Whether due to economic shifts, changing political landscapes, imperial ambitions, or even simply personal tragedy, many families found themselves fractured and disoriented by the growth and later fissure of a larger Atlantic world. Such dislocation posed considerable challenges to all individuals who viewed orderly family relations as both a general and a personal ideal. The more fortunate individuals who thus found themselves ‘all at sea’ were able to use family letters, with attendant emphases on familiarity, sensibility, and credit, in order to remain connected in times and places of great disconnection. Portraying the family as a unified, affectionate, and happy entity in such letters provided a means of surmounting concerns about societies fractured by physical distance, global wars, and increasing social stratification. It could also afford social and economic leverage to individual men and women in certain circumstances. This book explores the lives and letters of these families, revealing the sometimes shocking stories of those divided by sea in a series of microhistories. Ranging across the Anglophone Atlantic, including mainland American colonies and states, Britain, and the British Caribbean, the book argues that it was this expanding Atlantic world — much more than the American Revolution — that reshaped contemporary ideals about families, as much as families themselves reshaped the transatlantic world.
Sarah M. S. Pearsall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199532995
- eISBN:
- 9780191714443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532995.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the most famous letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, in which she exhorted him to ‘remember the ladies’. The chapter places this letter in ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the most famous letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, in which she exhorted him to ‘remember the ladies’. The chapter places this letter in its larger Atlantic context, arguing for the ways in which domestic rhetoric and concerns influenced more broadly political ones. It considers the ways that families enduring transatlantic distance used letters to make sense of chaos and to maintain a burgeoning Atlantic world. It also introduces the major arguments of the book, including the uses of representations of ‘family feeling’ amid disorder, the need to replace the transition from patriarchy to paternalism with more subtle expositions of cultural change, the integration of public and private worlds, and the political and cultural importance of ‘family feeling’ at the time of the American Revolution.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of the most famous letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, in which she exhorted him to ‘remember the ladies’. The chapter places this letter in its larger Atlantic context, arguing for the ways in which domestic rhetoric and concerns influenced more broadly political ones. It considers the ways that families enduring transatlantic distance used letters to make sense of chaos and to maintain a burgeoning Atlantic world. It also introduces the major arguments of the book, including the uses of representations of ‘family feeling’ amid disorder, the need to replace the transition from patriarchy to paternalism with more subtle expositions of cultural change, the integration of public and private worlds, and the political and cultural importance of ‘family feeling’ at the time of the American Revolution.
Timothy Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195300093
- eISBN:
- 9780199868636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300093.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The case of William Penn shows us a dissenter who strove to articulate a new discourse on the essential difference between the external domain of the magistrate and civil society on the one hand, and ...
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The case of William Penn shows us a dissenter who strove to articulate a new discourse on the essential difference between the external domain of the magistrate and civil society on the one hand, and the private and inner domain of religion on the other. His and Locke's ideas fed into the general stream of American dissent and bills of rights which culminated in the Federal Constitution. Even within the Church of England Bishop Hoadly, often quoted by American revolutionaries, preached to the King the essential distinction authorized by Jesus between the kingdoms of this and the future worlds. That many of these revolutionary ideas were the stuff of sermons and pamphlets written by priests underscores the point that the distinction between religions as private nonpolitical domains of voluntary associations, and politics as a nonreligious domain of public obligation, was a rhetorical formation in the making, a discursive space intended to subvert and replace a radically different and older discourse of Religion as encompassing Christian Truth.Less
The case of William Penn shows us a dissenter who strove to articulate a new discourse on the essential difference between the external domain of the magistrate and civil society on the one hand, and the private and inner domain of religion on the other. His and Locke's ideas fed into the general stream of American dissent and bills of rights which culminated in the Federal Constitution. Even within the Church of England Bishop Hoadly, often quoted by American revolutionaries, preached to the King the essential distinction authorized by Jesus between the kingdoms of this and the future worlds. That many of these revolutionary ideas were the stuff of sermons and pamphlets written by priests underscores the point that the distinction between religions as private nonpolitical domains of voluntary associations, and politics as a nonreligious domain of public obligation, was a rhetorical formation in the making, a discursive space intended to subvert and replace a radically different and older discourse of Religion as encompassing Christian Truth.
P. J. Marshall and Alaine Low (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205630
- eISBN:
- 9780191676710
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205630.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the ...
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This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a crucial phase in the creation of the modern British Empire. This is the age of General Wolfe, Clive of India, and Captain Cook. Chapters trace and analyse the development and expansion of the British Empire over more than a century. They show how trade, warfare, and migration created an Empire, at first overwhelmingly in the Americas but later increasingly in Asia. Although the Empire was ruptured by the American Revolution, it survived and grew into an empire that was to dominate the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Less
This book is volume II of a series detailing the history of the British Empire and it examines the history of British worldwide expansion from the Glorious Revolution of 1689 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, a crucial phase in the creation of the modern British Empire. This is the age of General Wolfe, Clive of India, and Captain Cook. Chapters trace and analyse the development and expansion of the British Empire over more than a century. They show how trade, warfare, and migration created an Empire, at first overwhelmingly in the Americas but later increasingly in Asia. Although the Empire was ruptured by the American Revolution, it survived and grew into an empire that was to dominate the world during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Jay P. Dolan
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195069266
- eISBN:
- 9780199834143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195069269.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Examines American Catholicism in an age of democracy – the period from 1780–1820. The American Revolution ushered in a new age, and henceforth, democracy became a defining element of American ...
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Examines American Catholicism in an age of democracy – the period from 1780–1820. The American Revolution ushered in a new age, and henceforth, democracy became a defining element of American culture. How this concept influenced Catholicism makes up a major portion of this chapter. This period was also a time when certain seals of the Enlightenment took hold among Catholics. Such ideals shaped the way Catholics thought about their religion in this age of reason and started the development of a distinctive American version of Catholicism.Less
Examines American Catholicism in an age of democracy – the period from 1780–1820. The American Revolution ushered in a new age, and henceforth, democracy became a defining element of American culture. How this concept influenced Catholicism makes up a major portion of this chapter. This period was also a time when certain seals of the Enlightenment took hold among Catholics. Such ideals shaped the way Catholics thought about their religion in this age of reason and started the development of a distinctive American version of Catholicism.
Sarah M. S. Pearsall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199532995
- eISBN:
- 9780191714443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532995.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter attends to the separation of a husband and a wife during and immediately after the American Revolution, considering what attended those moments when the ‘silken cords’ of marriage were ...
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This chapter attends to the separation of a husband and a wife during and immediately after the American Revolution, considering what attended those moments when the ‘silken cords’ of marriage were stretched by distance and disorder. Concentrating on New England (especially Newport, Rhode Island) and England, it seeks to answer the question of why a husband did not return to his wife at the war's end, and what this meant. Women in such circumstances could obtain a kind of limited leverage from eloquent sensibility. Charges of unfeelingness, an important domestic claim, could also take on additional political meaning in wartime situations. At the same time, claims of ‘family feeling’ could also be put in service of some rather dubious political and domestic choices.Less
This chapter attends to the separation of a husband and a wife during and immediately after the American Revolution, considering what attended those moments when the ‘silken cords’ of marriage were stretched by distance and disorder. Concentrating on New England (especially Newport, Rhode Island) and England, it seeks to answer the question of why a husband did not return to his wife at the war's end, and what this meant. Women in such circumstances could obtain a kind of limited leverage from eloquent sensibility. Charges of unfeelingness, an important domestic claim, could also take on additional political meaning in wartime situations. At the same time, claims of ‘family feeling’ could also be put in service of some rather dubious political and domestic choices.
Craig Kallendorf
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199212361
- eISBN:
- 9780191707285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212361.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter considers three key assaults on the Ancien Régime: those of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century; the American colonies at the end of the 18th; and the French citizenry, from the assault ...
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This chapter considers three key assaults on the Ancien Régime: those of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century; the American colonies at the end of the 18th; and the French citizenry, from the assault on the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon. In each case, an imitation of the Aeneid develops into an effort to come to terms with rapid political and social change. In the case of Paradise Lost, John Milton produced a poem that reveals all the complexities of the Restoration and his efforts to find a place within it, while in the case of the Columbiad, the production and revision of the poem show how Joel Barlow succeeded in creating an epic that articulates the values of a new revolutionary society. The third poem, the little-known Virgile en France of Victor Alexandre Chrétien Le Plat du Temple, makes the Aeneid, traditionally seen as a pro-imperial poem, into an allegory of the establishment of the French republic.Less
This chapter considers three key assaults on the Ancien Régime: those of Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century; the American colonies at the end of the 18th; and the French citizenry, from the assault on the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon. In each case, an imitation of the Aeneid develops into an effort to come to terms with rapid political and social change. In the case of Paradise Lost, John Milton produced a poem that reveals all the complexities of the Restoration and his efforts to find a place within it, while in the case of the Columbiad, the production and revision of the poem show how Joel Barlow succeeded in creating an epic that articulates the values of a new revolutionary society. The third poem, the little-known Virgile en France of Victor Alexandre Chrétien Le Plat du Temple, makes the Aeneid, traditionally seen as a pro-imperial poem, into an allegory of the establishment of the French republic.
Frank Prochaska
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199640614
- eISBN:
- 9780191738678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199640614.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter is a survey of political attitudes in Britain on America in the decades after the American Revolution, which discusses constitutional issues, the French Revolution, republicanism, and ...
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This chapter is a survey of political attitudes in Britain on America in the decades after the American Revolution, which discusses constitutional issues, the French Revolution, republicanism, and slavery. It looks at several British travellers to the United States in the early nineteenth century, including Harriet Martineau and Mrs Trollope.Less
This chapter is a survey of political attitudes in Britain on America in the decades after the American Revolution, which discusses constitutional issues, the French Revolution, republicanism, and slavery. It looks at several British travellers to the United States in the early nineteenth century, including Harriet Martineau and Mrs Trollope.
Doron Ben-Atar
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205661
- eISBN:
- 9780191676741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205661.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter explores the last thirty years of revolutionary historiography. The vast literature on the subject can be divided into three approaches: first, the Atlantic interpretations, by which is ...
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This chapter explores the last thirty years of revolutionary historiography. The vast literature on the subject can be divided into three approaches: first, the Atlantic interpretations, by which is meant studies of the ‘big picture’ — the internal and external workings of the British Empire: secondly, the New Social History and its efforts to locate the origins of the American Revolution in colonial structures and processes; thirdly, the heated historiographical debate over the ideological interpretation which emphasizes the role of the republican tradition. Categorizing historians under one approach or another is a matter of emphasis. Most of the historians described consider the Revolution's imperialism, and its socio-economic and ideological contexts. Scholars such as Jack P. Greene, Edmund S. Morgan, and Bernard Bailyn have made significant contributions to all three approaches. This chapter challenges exclusive monocausal interpretations of the Revolution, and suggests that the event is best explained by effective integration of all three approaches. These approaches of modern historiography seek to explain how and why seemingly manageable political and constitutional disagreements between the colonists and the British government shattered the Empire.Less
This chapter explores the last thirty years of revolutionary historiography. The vast literature on the subject can be divided into three approaches: first, the Atlantic interpretations, by which is meant studies of the ‘big picture’ — the internal and external workings of the British Empire: secondly, the New Social History and its efforts to locate the origins of the American Revolution in colonial structures and processes; thirdly, the heated historiographical debate over the ideological interpretation which emphasizes the role of the republican tradition. Categorizing historians under one approach or another is a matter of emphasis. Most of the historians described consider the Revolution's imperialism, and its socio-economic and ideological contexts. Scholars such as Jack P. Greene, Edmund S. Morgan, and Bernard Bailyn have made significant contributions to all three approaches. This chapter challenges exclusive monocausal interpretations of the Revolution, and suggests that the event is best explained by effective integration of all three approaches. These approaches of modern historiography seek to explain how and why seemingly manageable political and constitutional disagreements between the colonists and the British government shattered the Empire.
John Saillant
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195157178
- eISBN:
- 9780199834617
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195157176.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
During the American Revolution and in the early national years, republican ideology was claimed by both the supporters and the critics of American slavery. For some, black men seemed to lack the ...
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During the American Revolution and in the early national years, republican ideology was claimed by both the supporters and the critics of American slavery. For some, black men seemed to lack the civic virtue necessary to defend liberty, while the African American population at large undermined the political security of the USA insofar as conflicts between the majority white population and the minority black population seemed inevitable. The solution favored by leading republicans such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison was colonization, the expatriation of African Americans to Africa. Sierra Leone and Liberia were settled by black people sent from North America; some migrated to Haiti. For others, like Lemuel Haynes, black men had already demonstrated their civic virtue by supporting the patriot cause in the Revolution as well as by participating in the economic and religious life of the U.S. He countered colonizationist thought with arguments for the integration of blacks and whites in the republic.Less
During the American Revolution and in the early national years, republican ideology was claimed by both the supporters and the critics of American slavery. For some, black men seemed to lack the civic virtue necessary to defend liberty, while the African American population at large undermined the political security of the USA insofar as conflicts between the majority white population and the minority black population seemed inevitable. The solution favored by leading republicans such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison was colonization, the expatriation of African Americans to Africa. Sierra Leone and Liberia were settled by black people sent from North America; some migrated to Haiti. For others, like Lemuel Haynes, black men had already demonstrated their civic virtue by supporting the patriot cause in the Revolution as well as by participating in the economic and religious life of the U.S. He countered colonizationist thought with arguments for the integration of blacks and whites in the republic.
John A. Ragosta
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195388060
- eISBN:
- 9780199866779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388060.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
It is difficult to measure mobilization by denomination in the eighteenth century because enlistment records do not indicate recruits' denominations; nonetheless, evidence indicates that dissenters ...
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It is difficult to measure mobilization by denomination in the eighteenth century because enlistment records do not indicate recruits' denominations; nonetheless, evidence indicates that dissenters supplied the support sought as part of the negotiations for religious freedom. While Anglican ministers tended to hold more prestigious posts on Committees of Safety and more high‐ranking appointments to the military, dissenting ministers enlisted and preached mobilization at least as effectively. Indeed, many Baptist ministers who had been personally persecuted mobilized to support the patriot effort. Enlistment data by counties support the conclusion that dissenters mobilized at least as effectively as Anglicans. The situation in Virginia differed dramatically from substantial loyalism demonstrated by North Carolina and Maryland dissenters who had significantly less reason to oppose local patriot leaders; the lack of loyalism in Virginia relates, in part, to the efforts of the establishment leaders to engage dissenters in the political dialogue.Less
It is difficult to measure mobilization by denomination in the eighteenth century because enlistment records do not indicate recruits' denominations; nonetheless, evidence indicates that dissenters supplied the support sought as part of the negotiations for religious freedom. While Anglican ministers tended to hold more prestigious posts on Committees of Safety and more high‐ranking appointments to the military, dissenting ministers enlisted and preached mobilization at least as effectively. Indeed, many Baptist ministers who had been personally persecuted mobilized to support the patriot effort. Enlistment data by counties support the conclusion that dissenters mobilized at least as effectively as Anglicans. The situation in Virginia differed dramatically from substantial loyalism demonstrated by North Carolina and Maryland dissenters who had significantly less reason to oppose local patriot leaders; the lack of loyalism in Virginia relates, in part, to the efforts of the establishment leaders to engage dissenters in the political dialogue.
Timothy M. Roberts and Daniel W. Howe
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199249978
- eISBN:
- 9780191697852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199249978.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
In 1848, most Americans did not believe their own country needed the kind of revolution Continental Europe was having. Their reactions to the revolutions nevertheless reveal much about their own ...
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In 1848, most Americans did not believe their own country needed the kind of revolution Continental Europe was having. Their reactions to the revolutions nevertheless reveal much about their own society, their political culture, and their prejudices. This chapter looks at the way people in the United States responded to the European revolutions of 1848. It seeks to take account not only of diplomatic history but also of American domestic politics, social structure, and legal institutions. It is also an examination of American public opinion. The United States had a paradoxical relationship to the revolutions of 1848. On one hand, the nation had been born out of a revolution, and it disposed them to welcome the European revolutions in 1848. On the other hand, the issues involved in the European revolutions did not seem to be live political issues in the United States.Less
In 1848, most Americans did not believe their own country needed the kind of revolution Continental Europe was having. Their reactions to the revolutions nevertheless reveal much about their own society, their political culture, and their prejudices. This chapter looks at the way people in the United States responded to the European revolutions of 1848. It seeks to take account not only of diplomatic history but also of American domestic politics, social structure, and legal institutions. It is also an examination of American public opinion. The United States had a paradoxical relationship to the revolutions of 1848. On one hand, the nation had been born out of a revolution, and it disposed them to welcome the European revolutions in 1848. On the other hand, the issues involved in the European revolutions did not seem to be live political issues in the United States.
R. R. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161280
- eISBN:
- 9781400850228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161280.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter argues that the American Revolution was a political movement, concerned with liberty, and power. Most of the ideas involved were by no means distinctively American. There was nothing ...
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This chapter argues that the American Revolution was a political movement, concerned with liberty, and power. Most of the ideas involved were by no means distinctively American. There was nothing peculiarly American in the concepts, purely as concepts, of natural liberty and equality. They were admitted by conservatives, and were taught in the theological faculty at the Sorbonne. Nor could Americans claim any exclusive understanding of the ideas of government by contract or consent, or the sovereignty of the people, or political representation, or the desirability of independence from foreign rule, or natural rights, or the difference between natural law and positive law, or between certain fundamental laws and ordinary legislation, or the separation of powers, or the federal union of separate states. All these ideas were perfectly familiar in Europe, and that is why the American Revolution was of such interest to Europeans.Less
This chapter argues that the American Revolution was a political movement, concerned with liberty, and power. Most of the ideas involved were by no means distinctively American. There was nothing peculiarly American in the concepts, purely as concepts, of natural liberty and equality. They were admitted by conservatives, and were taught in the theological faculty at the Sorbonne. Nor could Americans claim any exclusive understanding of the ideas of government by contract or consent, or the sovereignty of the people, or political representation, or the desirability of independence from foreign rule, or natural rights, or the difference between natural law and positive law, or between certain fundamental laws and ordinary legislation, or the separation of powers, or the federal union of separate states. All these ideas were perfectly familiar in Europe, and that is why the American Revolution was of such interest to Europeans.
Margot Minardi
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195379372
- eISBN:
- 9780199869152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195379372.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter shows how the idea that slavery was fundamentally at odds with local heritage shaped abolitionist efforts to gain public support in the 1830s and 40s. In Boston, as the construction of ...
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This chapter shows how the idea that slavery was fundamentally at odds with local heritage shaped abolitionist efforts to gain public support in the 1830s and 40s. In Boston, as the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument coincided with the development of an antislavery movement, abolitionists (led by William Lloyd Garrison) and monument‐builders (including Daniel Webster) vied for control over the American Revolution's legacy. Abolitionists' success in using Revolutionary rhetoric to get fugitive slave George Latimer freed from jail in 1842 was followed by another round of antislavery agitation in 1843, when abolitionists charged President John Tyler with bringing a slave to the Bunker Hill Monument's dedication. In examining the ensuing controversy about the commemoration of the Revolution, this chapter contends that abolitionists and their opponents were contesting not only the future course of the country but also the relationship between the present and the past.Less
This chapter shows how the idea that slavery was fundamentally at odds with local heritage shaped abolitionist efforts to gain public support in the 1830s and 40s. In Boston, as the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument coincided with the development of an antislavery movement, abolitionists (led by William Lloyd Garrison) and monument‐builders (including Daniel Webster) vied for control over the American Revolution's legacy. Abolitionists' success in using Revolutionary rhetoric to get fugitive slave George Latimer freed from jail in 1842 was followed by another round of antislavery agitation in 1843, when abolitionists charged President John Tyler with bringing a slave to the Bunker Hill Monument's dedication. In examining the ensuing controversy about the commemoration of the Revolution, this chapter contends that abolitionists and their opponents were contesting not only the future course of the country but also the relationship between the present and the past.
