The American Revolution

ISBN-13: 9780333999264 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 400 str.

Colin Bonwick

Opis

In this successful text, Colin Bonwick traces the attainment of independence, focusing especially on the internal revolution that created republican governments, and considers the extent of social change. This second edition has been extensively revised and expanded in the light of recent research. It now includes illustrations and greater treatment of, in particular, African Americans, Native Americans, and women.

Spis treści

List of Illustrations.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- Land, Peoples and the Economy.- Social, Political and Intellectual Patterns.- The Coming of the Revolution.- Achieving Independence.- Framing New Governments.- Politics in the States.- Problems of Independence.- The Philadelphia Convention.- The Revolution Completed.- Tables.- Documents.- Notes.- Further Reading.- Index.

O autorze

COLIN BONWICK is Professor Emeritus of American History at Keele University, UK. His previous publications include English Radicals and the American Revolution and he has written numerous articles on both the English and American sides of the Revolution.

Blurb

Contemporaries and historians alike have disagreed strongly over the character of the Revolution. Some see it principally as a nationalist movement and equate it with the war; others argue that the war was only the first stage of a much longer internal revolution; while still others insist that the 'real' Revolution took place in the minds and hearts of the people long before fighting began.

Colin Bonwick suggests that there were possible alternatives at each stage. He explores the evidence that Americans were contented members of the British Empire before the crisis exploded, and argues that independence was neither certain nor sufficient in itself. Instead, Bonwick suggests that internal changes (both successes and failures) were at the core of the Revolution: the creation of a republic, social reform, and the construction of a federal union which implemented a burgeoning sense of 'nationhood'.

Building on the success of the first edition, this second edition has been extensively revised and expanded in the light of recent research. It now includes illustrations and greater treatment of, in particular, African Americans, Native Americans, and women.