Since the author breaks down the book into three main categories, and then further breaks down the categories into chapters, the book has logical breaking points, and follows a rational chronology. It is easy to see, after reading this book, the stages our democracy evolved through, and how these systematic stages clearly affected the ultimate result. From Monarchy to Republicanism to Democracy, each section is like a stepping-stone for the founding fathers, and they had to cover each step to find the final pathway to freedom and self-rule. What is most interesting about this book is that the author's theories are so radical, and that no one, or very few, acknowledged them before. The author's main thesis, that radical thought created the American Revolution, instead of conservative thought that led to determination and revolt, does not seem so radical today, and indeed, the author acknowledges that in the book. Today, the revolutionaries would not be seen as far from "normal" thought, but at the time, their feelings and desires were quite new and different for the world. The author also maintains that ultimately, the democracy these radical thinkers created was far different from other democracies, and perhaps even far different from what they had originally conceived. They created a new society for the "common" man, a society that recognized the cohesion of people rather than their differences, and strove to bring people together under one common roof of leadership. It is also interesting to note that the author believes...
Wood notes, "They alone were responsible for what they thought and believed and for what would be thought and believed in the future by those they often called the 'millions unborn'" (Wood 190). Clearly, Wood's understanding of the early American revolutionaries is deep and all encompassing.
Slaves were not in such a position, and often lived their entire lives in bondage to cruel masters and terrible conditions. Furthermore, in contrast to immigrants who left their home countries by choice, African slaves were kidnapped from their homes against their will. In these cases, there was indeed a definite hierarchy in the country. Doerflinger turns the focus to the economy of the country at the time. According to
In a democratic society, however, the responsibility for making governmental decisions is transferred to the citizenry and it is incumbent that the citizenry be provided with at least a rudimentary education so that they are in position to make such decisions. Although the original U.S. Constitution did not initially grant women the right to vote and otherwise participate in the government, women were afforded, on a limited basis, to
American Revolution: A conservative, successful Revolution of the haves against those who had more We usually think of revolutions, particularly colonial revolutions, in radical terms. Perhaps as a result of Marxist influence upon cotemporary historical analysis, the word revolution summons up in historian's minds and imaginations the blazing red flags and blazing anger of the lower classes, rising in revolt. Yet this image is not only overly idealistic and unrealistic, but
Regardless of how limited this particular scope lie within colonial society, it set a new precedent for a new form of virtue. The debate over which type of virtue prevailed within the Continental Congress for four years; it seemed as if the classical virtue was diminishing. The notion of classical virtue involved adherence to social norms that were streamlined with an aristocratic government and monarchy. Even Richard Henry Lee conceded that
Nature of American Revolution Over the period of time, there has been a continuous debate over the nature of American revolution. Historians and scholars of every time have seen the entire movement with their own perspectives and labelled it according to their own thinking. The revolution has been considered social, radical, conservative or simply an independence movement from British Rule due to discontent amongst the masses which was led by thirteen
In the end these early attempts at independent diplomacy, a radical notion in and of itself retained foreign aide from France, despite its early misgivings. This in a time that diplomatic aide to a rebellion would be seen as grounds for a new war the French recognized the Americans as an entity in need of aide and provided 1 Million livres for munitions for the Americans, in secret of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now