Summary Of Gordon S. Wood's The American Revolution: A History

Since the American Revolution, the events which took place during this era have been heavily studied and analyzed by historians. Some are of the opinion that the revolution was a struggle over rule, while others believe it is more accurately labelled as a social movement. One historian, Edward Countryman, wrote The American Revolution in 1985 in order to summarize the ideas that contemporary historians had. In 2003, however, he took it upon himself to revise his account of the revolution in order to emphasize its complexities. Hence, he has decided to revise his book in order to reflect how he now feels about the events that transpired during America 's struggle for independence.

The American Revolution is an integral event in modern history. It set the wheels in motion for practically every political and social order we take for granted today. The American Revolution was fundamentally a radical movement because of its democratic ideals, its separation of church and state, and its unifying of the rich and poor through the ideals of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian Gordon S. Wood published his work The Radicalism of the American Revolution in 1991. In this book, he argues that, contrary to popular belief, the American Revolution was a socio-politically radical event. Wood describes various factors and outcomes that evidence the Revolution’s radicalism, and how it was the most far-reaching event of American history. In his thesis, he conveys that the Revolution’s radical influence on society has generally been disregarded by historians, that radicalism is defined by shifts in people’s relationships, that the Revolution sought societal change through political reform, and that it was the most influential and radical factor in creating a liberal, modern America.

Vol. 1 of a 2 volume work. David Ramsay’s History of the American Revolution appeared in 1789 during an enthusiastic celebration of nationhood. It is the first American national history written by an American revolutionary and printed in America. Ramsay, a well-known Federalist, was an active participant in many of the events of the period and a member of the Continental Congress from South Carolina. Ramsay discusses the events and ideas of the American Revolution (from the outbreak of turbulence in the 1760s to the onset of Washington’s administration) and makes an ardent Federalist defense of the Constitution of 1787. Based on the original and authorized 1789 version, this is the first new modern edition of the work.

History of the American Revolution There have been many revolutions throughout history. A revolution in the 13 colonies of Britain resulted in the formation of a new country. From 1754-1776 the British government produced unfair taxes and attacks that angered the colonists and led to a war that would create a country. The Declaration of Independence was a result of the unjustified taxes, attempted seizing of weapons, and violence between British troops and the colonists.

The Revolutionary war had begun after three British ships were delivering tea and were ambushed by American colonists disguised as Native Americans. The disguised enraged colonists dumped all the tea into the Boston Harbor. This act occurred when colonists were furious the British had raised taxes to outrageous prices for things such as tea and postage stamps. The British had increased tax prices for colonists when the French and Indian war had put them in debt. The French and Indian war had commenced when the French and the British fought over land from the Mississippi river to the Appalachian mountains. This was was inevitable because the French and British could have shared the

A revolution is the bringing of a new start. Like many other revolutions throughout the years, the American Revolution is the perfect example of this. The effects of a revolution not only on the people but on society as well, can be detrimental. Many of these effects included closing the Boston harbor, passing the Intolerable Act, British government refused to address American complaints, and the colonists felt the British government was increasingly corrupt and autocratic empire in which their traditional liberties were threatened.

The colonist didn’t like the laws the British made so they did many disastrous things the British didn’t like so as things kept getting worse it led to the American Revolution.

Compare and contrast of The French Revolution and The American Revolution The American revolution and the French Revolution are two major incidents happened in the 1700s, which had intense social impacts on both French and American societies. In general, the American Revolution was more successful than the French revolution. The similarity between them is that the citizens in both countries, both faced the block of common economical development of the government. However, there is a difference that makes the American revolution succeeded while the French revolution doesn’t.

There was no singular event that led to the American Revolution however, there were long-term causes that were brought to the forefront because of short-term events. Many of these long-term causes were tax acts that were being placed on the colonies to help Britain pay debt that was inquired during the war with France. These tax acts included the Sugar Act of 1764, the Quartering Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767. These acts required the colonies to pay taxes on coffee, tea, paper, and other item, while at the same time forcing them to feed and house british soldiers (Schultz, 2014 pp. 84-90). This outraged many of the colonist who did not feel like they should be taxed for items they normally received for free. Their outrage led

There was more to the American Revolution than most Americans are aware of. It was political, violent, and strategic in many aspects. However, there is a larger theme in the American Revolution leading up to, during, and after the revolution, of authority struggle. More specifically, home rule. The colonies eventually adopted the idea that they wanted to secede from Britain, but did they ever think of who would rule among the colonies should they achieve independence? As they grew closer to independence, this realization became more of an issue among the colonies. In a way, many aspects of the American Revolution were struggles over authority and control and not in just the empire but among the colonies as well. These struggles for authority

Historically, it is believed that the causes of large scale events and wars are often rooted in the outcomes of previous conflicts. The American Revolution, one of the largest most historically significant events of all time, was caused by a multitude of events. Specifically, many of the causes were in fact the results of past conflicts and ongoing tension, such as the French and Indian War and British taxation acts. Contrary to popular belief, the impact of American Revolution was not solely confined to the colonies and the British crown. Aside from leading to American independence, the American Revolution was a part of a larger global conflict, involving issues between Great Britain, France, and other foreign nations. Overall, the outcome

Massachusetts impact to colonial America was thoroughly important. Many events leading up to the American Revolution occurred in Massachusetts; events such as the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. The crown responded to these events by closing Boston ports in 1774. These events fueled colonist’s desire to fight the Crown, and lit the fuze to the American Revolution. Founding Fathers such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Joseph Warren.

Before I really knew anything about the American Revolution, I believed that there was only one overarching reason that sparked the American Revolution; colonists just decided one day to become independent. As I have learned more about the Revolution, I discovered I was completely wrong. There are, in fact, two main viewpoints that commenced the Revolution: British loyalists and conservatives against the radicals. The loyalist and more conservative side was supportive of any of the rules, laws, taxes, or anything of that sort that British Parliament or monarchy put in place. In contrast, the radical’s craved for independence from the British government since they deemed their laws as useless and confining. These two opposing viewpoints are the main cause of the American Revolution because of their different desires. Events within the time period between 1763 and 1775 illustrate this perfectly.

When looking at the social and political changes that took place during the early American colonies you can see a steady progression towards ideologies that would lead to the Revolution. When you have different levels of government being put in place by the states depending upon their needs, where rural areas had different court systems than more urban areas, you see a level of independence for governance that the colonists began to see the benefit of having, separate from the rule of the Crown. To counter this increase in independence. the Crown implemented ever changing political positions that could be assigned to those who were loyal to the Crown and the social hierarchy that was prevalent in Britain at the time. These actions of corruption