The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

The Power Of Ideas In Forming America Why did the American colonies declare their Independence from Great Britain?Bernard Bailyn's classic study, "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution" argues that American Independence had its roots in the power of ideas -- of a rethinking of the proper......more

This text is simply one of the greatest accomplishments of Bernard Bailyn's career. Bailyn has been synonymous with editing primary source documents from the American Revolution, but "Ideological Origins," marks one time where he takes his expertise on the subject of the Revolution and applies it to......more

A thoughtful and insightful review of pre- and post-revolution literature to discern the ideologies underlying the revolution. The book started with a cataloging of pamphlets, broadsides and newspapers of the era. This major effort is a very well documented explanation of the arguments pro and con o......more

One of the few best books I have ever read, and one of the few most influential in my life. That's hardly a reason for anyone else to read it. I can only say that everything I ever wanted to believe about the development of the Founders' political philosophy - about the nature of liberty, sovereignt......more

This classic work provides a history of ideas from the Revolutionary generation. The larger considerations of the departure from the old European regimes and improvements to the English constitution are covered by Bailyn. He also goes into the contradiction between pursuing liberty and keeping slave......more