Introduction

CHALLENGE OF STUDYING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

	For Americans, the Revolution is so much part of their identity, the names and events so familiar, that it takes a strenuous effort to take a fresh and unbiased look at the origins of the nation.
	The American Revolution is arguably the most important phase of our history precisely because it is foundational. It gives us not only our basic political and legal structures but the values behind them and models of leadership.
	In short, the Revolution is the major source of our national myth.

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE AND ITS THEMES

The Revolutionary Generation: runs from the 1760s to the 1820

Scope of the course: 1760-1789 - from the revolutionary movement to the adoption of the Constitution

Themes:

Liberty

Empire

Ambition

For examples of somewhat different sets of themes for organizing the study of the Revolution click on

Resistance to Revolution: Themes in the History of the American Revolution,

Liberty, the PBS site for its documentary series on the Revolution.

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

History is:

	The Past
	Recovering the Past
	Reconstructing the Past
	Explaining the Past
	Using the Past

Historiography: the study of the way history is written. In reconstructing, explaining or using the past, historians offer interpretations and judgments that reflect values and, sometimes, agendas.

Sketch of historical interpretations

Tory/Loyalist Interpretation

Peter Oliver

Whig Interpretation: the legacy of the winners

David Ramsay and Mercy Otis Warren, in the Revolutionary Generation

George Bancroft in the 19^th Century

Foundation of American Nationalism

�Imperial� Interpretation: late 19 and early 20^th century historians studying the British Empire

Structure of the Empire and its political system were the keys to understanding the Revolution.

Examples: George Beer and Charles McLean Adnrews

Progressive Interpretation: late 19^th and early 20^th century historians

They found the key to the Revolution in political and economic self interest within the colonies.

Some of these historians: Carl Becker, Charles Beard, Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.

Carl Becker: �The Revolution was not only a conflict over home rule but also over who should rule at home"

This view continued to be influential through the 1930s.

The Consensus View: After WWII and into the 1950s this group emphasized the agreement and unity of the American people and criticized the Progressive focus on social and economic issues.

Richard Hofstadter and Louis Harz

They saw a broad liberal and republican consensus in the Revolutionary Generation.

The Founding Fathers were pragmatists and skilled at compromise to reach goals

Neo-Whig View: From the 1960s to the present, historians who criticize both the Progressive and Consensus interpretations

They emphasize ideology. They agree that material interests were an important factor but insist that ideology, the way the revolutionary generation saw the world, was of primary importance for explaining their motivation and actions.

Bernard Bailyn is the most influential historian of this type

Neo-Progressive and neo-Marxist Views: From the 1960s to the present, historians who argue for the importance of social conflict and the realty of class differences as forces in the revolutionary generation.

Marc Egnal's A Mighty Empire

QUESTION: For each of these major groups of interpretations, which of the three course themes do you think would be most relevant? Explain.

Reading Notes and Questions

Cook

	What does the book's title suggest about Cook's views on the cause and outcome of the revolution? What does "the long fuse" mean?
	Note how his basic question on page xi places the cause of the revolution on the British government . . ."the remorseless succession of blunders that ended in an unnecessary and unwinnable war . . ." Does Cook see the revolution as inevitable or avoidable?
	But he also mentions some outstanding political leaders in London and the fact that Britain had succeeded in building the greatest empire of the 18th century. So as you read Cook's narrative ask yourself how such fatal "blunders" could have come about? Was the flaw in certain personalities or in the structure of British politics?
	Cook mentions Franklin as a "devoted Anglophile" in the 1750s a "determined revolutionary" by 1775. How does Cook use Franklin to illustrate his thesis?
	A QUESTION FOR US IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS: If blunders in London lost Britain the colonies, what can be claimed for the efforts of the American revolutionary generation?
	Historiographical Question: As you read Cook, into which of the interpretive groups do you think he fits?

Bailyn

THEMES AND INTERPRETATIONS

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE AND ITS THEMES

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY