The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

by Bernard Bailyn

Overview

To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, ”Fulfillment,” as a Postscript. Here he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution. This detailed study of the persistence of the nation’s ideological origins adds a new dimension to the book and projects its meaning forward into vital present concerns.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674076662
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Bernard Bailyn is Adams University Professor and James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History, emeritus, at Harvard University. His many distinguished works have been awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, the National Book Award, the Bancroft Prize, and the National Humanities Medal. He lives in Belmont, Massachusetts.

An award-winning audio engineer for over forty years, Tom Perkins has expanded his skills to narrating and has more than sixty titles to his credit. He learned by working with the world's best voice talent during his career, and he continues to engineer a variety of projects.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Enlarged Edition Foreword Contents I. The Literature of Revolution II. Sources and Traditions III. Power and Liberty: A Theory of Politics IV. The Logic of Rebellion A Note on Conspiracy V. Transformation 1. Representation and Consent 2. Constitution and Rights 3. Sovereignty VI. The Contagion of Liberty 1. Slavery 2. Establishment of Religion 3. The Democracy Unleashed 4. "Whether Some Degree of Respect Be Not Always Due from Inferiors to Superiors" Postscript. Fulfillment: A Commentary on the Constitution Index

Editorial Reviews

"One cannot claim to understand the Revolution without having read this book." ---New York Times

From the Publisher

In every area of Bernard Bailyn's research--whether Virginia society of the 17th century or the schools of early America--he transformed what historians had hitherto thought about the subject. In The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, the most famous of his works, Bailyn uncovered a set of ideas among the Revolutionary generation that most historians had scarcely known existed. These radical ideas about power and liberty, and deeply rooted fears of conspiracy, had propelled Americans in the 1760s and 1770s into the Revolution, Bailyn said. His book, which won the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes in 1968, influenced an entire generation of historians. For many, it remains the most persuasive interpretation of the Revolution.

Wall Street Journal - Gordon S. Wood

A distinguished achievement. Mr. Bailyn writes with the authority and integrity that derive from a thorough mastery of the material. His meticulous scholarship is matched with perceptive analysis.

New York Review of Books

One cannot claim to understand the Revolution without having read this book.

New York Times Book Review

The most brilliant study of the meaning of the Revolution to appear in a generation.

History

Tightly written and politically sophisticated...In the field of American Revolutionary Studies Bailyn's book must henceforth occupy a position of first rank.

Saturday Review

With this reading of the American Revolutionary Experience, Mr. Bailyn has substantially and profoundly altered the nature and direction of the inquiry on the American Revolution. In the process he has also erected a new framework for interpreting the entire first half-century of American national history...A landmark in American historiography.

American Quarterly

In every area of Bernard Bailyn's research—whether Virginia society of the 17th century or the schools of early America—he transformed what historians had hitherto thought about the subject. In The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, the most famous of his works, Bailyn uncovered a set of ideas among the Revolutionary generation that most historians had scarcely known existed. These radical ideas about power and liberty, and deeply rooted fears of conspiracy, had propelled Americans in the 1760s and 1770s into the Revolution, Bailyn said. His book, which won the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes in 1968, influenced an entire generation of historians. For many, it remains the most persuasive interpretation of the Revolution.
— Gordon S. Wood

Wall Street Journal