The Historiography of the American Revolution

Patrician – George Bancroft The History of the United States Rev was Liberty vs. Tyranny Rev was radical – It redefined what mankind was struggling for Patriotism American Exceptionalism Part of God’s plan for human liberty No Shave November winner!

Progressive – Carl Becker The Declaration of Independence “The question of home rule vs. who would rule at home.” War against British and a Civil War Econ and Soc factors caused Rev

Progressive – Franklin Jameson The American Rev Considered as a Social Movement Rev let loose econ and social hopes of underclasses End of primogeniture, land redist, anti-slavery/slave trade laws, disestab of churches, voting qual lowered

Progressive – Arthur Schlesinger The Colonial Merchants and the Am Rev Merchants desire to break free of mercantilism sparked Rev

Neoconservative Robert Brown - The Middle-Class Democ and the Rev in Mass Edmund Morgan – The Birth of the Repub Am soc was democratic and mid-class No class diffs, so no class struggle Consensus on questions of liberty and self-gov’t

Neoconservative – Daniel Boorstin The Genius of American Politics Rev was conservative Preserve pre-1763 Br traditions Preserve the existing democracy – not remake the world

Ideological – Bernard Bailyn The Ideological Origins of the Am Rev Rev was a Rev in the mind of Ams Eng was conspiring against Am lib Defense of lib was nec for mankind Submission = Slavery Am was not inferior to Eur Differences became positive

New Left – Gary Nash The Urban Crucible Econ distress in cities was real Riots illustrated resentment against Am AND Br elite Bottom up interpretation

Comparitive – Robert Palmer The Age of Democratic Revolution Where does Am Rev fit in World Hist? Compare Am Rev with others to decide how rad/conservative it was

Gordon Wood The Radicalism of the Am Rev Brown University Prof Old Old What’s his view?

The American Revolution is, perhaps, the single most significant event in this country’s history….But scholars disagree about using the term “revolutionary” to describe how new or different these developments were. Some historians argue that the Revolution was solely a colonial rebellion aimed at achieving only the limited goal of independence from Britain. Colonial society, they say, was a democratic society, and there was a consensus among Americans about keeping things as they were once the break with Britain had been accomplished. Others claim that the Revolution was accompanied by a violent social upheaval – a class conflict – as the radical lower classes sought to gain a greater degree of democracy in what had been a basically undemocratic society in the colonial era. The question is, then,was the Revolution revolutionary, or was it not? Grob and Bilias Interpretations of American History