The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Paperback – March 1, 1992

This book won several major awards some years ago and is still read in American Studies circles. Originally written in 1967, it was updated in 1992 and had a chapter added on about the transition from the spirit of '76 to the writing of the Constitution in 1787 which makes it much more valuable and useful.The debate of the origins of American thought and government is intensifying and books like this are useful as an understanding to see what America was as we debate what America will be given the massive changes of the last 50 years. As we make these decisions, I heartily recommend that we realize from where our ideas come and exactly what those ideas were before we exchange them for something different.The debate over American ideas probably took on its modern character early in the 20th Century with  An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States . The author, Beard, and other progressives of the time completely re-interpreted American origins from mythic demi-god founding fathers to a bunch of greedy self-serving rich guys who wanted to preserve their wealth and power. Beard later recanted, but the damage was done and generations of intellectuals were educated with these ideas. Beard was certainly not alone in his new interpretation. President Woodrow Wilson was a co-believer whose political ideals reflected these beliefs. The average non-college educated American largely ignored these ideas and continued with the more popular ideas of the founding fathers being unique geniuses.As massive numbers of Americans entered college after WWII with the GI bill, upper education expanded massively and a number of more conservative intellectuals began to puzzle over what had happened back in the early part of the century. People like Carey began to bring back to light the original documents and histories of the origins of America and refuted these progressives. Kendall, Lutz, and others collected early documents and made them available for study.  The Origins of American Constitutionalism , Principles of Constitutional Design , Colonial Origins of the American Constitution , A Preface to American Political Theory , The Basic Symbols of the American Political Tradition I recommend all the above books strongly because they are wider-ranging and include more references to other works than does Bailyn.This book has 6 longish chapters and a total of 380 pages. Nearly every page has extensive footnotes that sometimes take up more room than the text. So be prepared for the depth of the discussion. This is not light reading and the author assumes a fairly comprehensive knowledge of not just American History but recent publications then current in the literature. This is not a good first or even third book to read on this subject.One of the strongest points of the book is the first chapter on the literature of the revolutionary period. Bailyn is one of the people who began putting together collections of the original writings found largely in pamphlets and newspapers. (There were 38 newspapers in America at that time.) With these sources Bailyn can pull out his thesis that many of the ideas of Americanism came from English and Continental philosphers like Locke and Montesquieu.But this strength leads directly into the biggest weakness of the book. Bailyn puts too much weight on these authors. The other works I have cited above show that the ideas of Americanism (equality, self-government, life, liberty, property, etc.) existed long before these authors. The founders often referred to them because they were part of the intellectual milieu of the day, but the founders often rejected much of what they wrote. Clearly, the main sources for Jefferson, Madison, et al., were the Americans that had gone before and Christianity and the rights listed in early American douments derived from the Bible and English common law including Magna Carta. For example, John Cotton and Nathaniel Ward who largely wrote the Massachusetts constitution of 1641 (well before Locke wrote anything) directly removed their list of rights (life, liberty, property/pursuit of happiness) from the Bible and their knowledge of English Common Law. (Both were common law attorneys in part.)This book fails to acknowledge this and leaves out the important role of religion, Christianity specifically, the Bible, and the covenant theology that was the basis of the colonial founding. This is a pretty big hole. Also, Bailyn does not acknowledge the other scholars like Lutz and this also limits Bailyn's book by purposefully excluding necessary information and scholarship. This is puzzling and I assume it is because it wasn't and isn't politically correct to do this.One other problem is that the footnotes often give a list of works and refer to multiple statements on a given page without specifying which quote or idea belongs to which work. When you try and go to the original source, you waste lots of time. This book really needs a new edition done with the computer to keep track of everything.One interesting (and short) chapter makes the supported claim that the Americans of the revolutionary period, and many of the English people like Edmund Burke, saw a clear conspiracy by certain rich and powerful individuals to suppress freedom. So Americans have been conspiracists from the beginning.The last chapter, added on, shows how the ideas of the Declaration period were the same as those of the Constitution but with the discovered need for a stronger central government. This postscript makes the book much more useful.Overall, an excellent, prize-winning book on the subject of American ideological origins with the problems I have noted. Again, I don't recommend this as the only book on the subject; you must include some of the books above and maybe even  Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution , a neo-Beardian book in some senses, to get a complete review of this important subject. Four stars.

This historical book should be taught in high school. Gives an insight I had never considered before.

Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992.Reviewed by James BookerAt the turn of the twentieth century progressive historians denounced that the American Revolution was fought over ideas. They unknowingly advanced the Tories version of events, according to Bernard Bailyn. For instance, the idea of personal gain was promulgated. These progressive historians had great influence until the 1950s. But it was not until the publication of Bailyn’s book in 1967 – The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution – that set the record straight. By studying and referencing over four hundred pamphlets, it became clear that the war for independence had a clear ideological core. And Bailyn’s book is largely based on those pamphlets.Pamphlets were the major way to convey ideas; debate issues, and refine nuances. The pamphlet wars was not new to the colonists; they inherited that tradition from Britain – especially during the English Civil War (1642-1651). Contained in the pamphlets ranged from sermons, to poems, and to political debates. The pamphlet wars revealed three parts of the Revolution: pre-Revolution (1763-1776), after the war started with each state setting up its own constitutions (1776-), and in (1787-1788) the restructuring of state constitutions and establishing a new Constitution.The central focus contained in the pamphlet wars were colonists’ Rights, in light of the British constitution. The British Constitution was the culmination of law ad tradition over many years. It was the envy of the world. British subjects were the freest people in the world at that time. Thus, liberty was connected to it. Moreover, the British Constitution reflected a three level social order: the royalty, the nobility, and the commoners. It was a “mixed” and well balanced constitution. To tinker with the balance of power was to tip the scales of power; threating the liberty of all. Based on this understanding, and others, the colonist saw the British constitution out of balance when Parliament began to interfere with their internal affairs.The pamphlets – along with newspapers, sermons, speeches, and letters – reflected a plethora, and in-depth knowledge of the colonists’ rich cultural heritage and historical literacy. They knew their history. Greek and Roman ideas dripped off the pages. Constitutional issues were debated by laymen. The colonist were proud of being British subjects. They clung to the common law. The ideas of justice and liberty possessed their thinking. Puritan covenant theology helped frame their consciences. There were many intellectual strands that came together to form a clear opposition. Above all, it was the English Civil War that shaped the colonists constitutional understanding, John Locke’s treaties on government, and John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon’s letters, called: Cato’s letters.One major feature Bailyn accomplished, sometimes slight other times obvious, are shifts on the issues. For instance, from 1763 to 1776 (before the publication of Thomas Paine’s book Common Sense) much of the debate focused on Rights within a British Constitutional construct. Of course, the colonist understood Locke’s ideas of Rights being in nature, but once in a civil society laws were constructed to protect certain natural Rights. Therefore, the colonist looked to the British Constitution to establish their Rights as British subjects. But Pain changed this paradigm. He gave the colonist another view of the constitution and liberty. Bailyn’s book is replete with these types of changes and nuances – that untimely carried the debate over issues of liberty, constitutionalism, and Rights to a new level. That eventually culminated to the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788.One interesting point Bailyn addressed is the issue of social norms. He adamantly rejects the notion that the Founders and most of the founding generation wanted to change societies’ social structure. For the most part, they fought on legal grounds. Constitutionalism is the central key to understanding the minds of the colonists, as established above. They did not set out to change societal norms, however, society was changed none the less.Bailyn is a scholar. And because he is, sometimes he is difficult to follow – although it had a chronological and natural flow. Since it appears he did not use a lot of transitional words, his thoughts kind of flowed into the next – but this is just my opinion. Over all, this was a superb book. Bailyn showed both sides of each debate: whether they were Patriots and Tories or the Federalist and Anti-federalist. He seemed to leave no stone unturned. It ought to be required reading for all undergraduate and graduate American history courses. It should be a classic.

Amazing work going very deep in the reasons and background of the American Revolution.Good book if you are interested in American History or liberism thinking.Someting I would have appreciated a bit more accesibility to the contect.Not recommended if you are looking for an "easy" read.

I would recommend this book to anyone - most probably a scholar like me - who wants and needs to understando the USA today. It's brillant.