Bernard Bailyn's Interpretation of the American Revolution
Introduction No one will argue that the American Revolution was one of the most significant events in shaping American ideology. The impact on the economy, sociological and ideological make-up of America are still seen in today's society. Many great minds have passed commentary on the causes and impacts of the American Revolution such as; Bernard Bailyn, Louis Hartz, Joyce Appleby, and Gordon Wood. This research examines why these experts believed what they did about the causes of the American Revolution and how we can correlate those causes to the economic and political crisis America is now facing in the 21st century as compared to the 18th century.
Literature Review The Revolutionary War physically started in 1775 and ended in 1783, however radical ideas and the beginning of anti-British feelings started at least a decade before the revolution actually took place. In Bernard Bailyn's work, "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution", he first attributes American political thought to the pamphlets that circulated throughout England and the American colonies. These pamphlets enabled revolutionary writers to openly express themselves and their ideas and above all, not be made to follow a strict pattern as newspaper articles and periodicals usually did. While other forms of communication still existed, "it was in this form- as pamphlets- that much of the most important and characteristic writing of the American Revolution appeared."[1] They were a means for writers and thinkers to exchange ideas and refute each other's arguments on political theory. Pamphlets written by American colonists were often viewed as crude and nothing more than amateur literature compared to the practiced technique and artful literary constructions of the Englishmen. The major reason why American pamphleteers were more outspoken in their writings was because they were more readily able to write exactly how they felt about the British crown and the changes that should be made
Literature Review The Revolutionary War physically started in 1775 and ended in 1783, however radical ideas and the beginning of anti-British feelings started at least a decade before the revolution actually took place. In Bernard Bailyn's work, "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution", he first attributes American political thought to the pamphlets that circulated throughout England and the American colonies. These pamphlets enabled revolutionary writers to openly express themselves and their ideas and above all, not be made to follow a strict pattern as newspaper articles and periodicals usually did. While other forms of communication still existed, "it was in this form- as pamphlets- that much of the most important and characteristic writing of the American Revolution appeared."[1] They were a means for writers and thinkers to exchange ideas and refute each other's arguments on political theory. Pamphlets written by American colonists were often viewed as crude and nothing more than amateur literature compared to the practiced technique and artful literary constructions of the Englishmen. The major reason why American pamphleteers were more outspoken in their writings was because they were more readily able to write exactly how they felt about the British crown and the changes that should be made