The origins, aims and course of the American Revolution were
influenced by a number of factors. The causes of the American
Revolution have been put down to economic, social and political
factors, which have then continued to influence the course and finally
the outcome of America's conflict with Britain. Economic factors
concerning trade and slavery have been put down to being part of the
cause of the American Revolution. Yet historians have often debated
the influence that Protestantism had on the revolution. The majority
of the population of the colonies were Puritan but there were various
diverse angles of religion. The two largest churches were the
Presbyterians and the Congregationalists, but the colonies were also
made up of many other faiths such as Anglicans, Baptists or pacifist
groups such as Quakers. Religion was a very important part of colonial
life and the colonists were much more concerned with religious aspects
than political controversy. Yet although religion played a major part
of the colonists' lives, it actual affect on the American Revolution
itself is debatable: "Religion was present in the revolution,
considered in a restricted framework; it was thoroughly engaged by it
and multi-faceted. It is difficult to make the case, however, that
religious ingredients - even broadly defined- played a definitive or
even markedly innovative role."[1] John F. Wilson acknowledges that
religion did have an affect on the revolution but also argues that
perhaps Protestantism had a lesser affect on the revolution as a whole
than other factors such as economic aspects.
Some historians have attributed the Great Awakening to be on...
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Edward Countryman, The American Revolution (Penguin Books Ltd) 1985.
Jack P. Green and J. R. Pole, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, (Blackwell Publishers) 1991.
J.C.D Clark, The Language of Liberty 1660-1832 (University of Cambridge) 1994.
Alfred F. Young, The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, (Northern Illinois University Press) 1976.
Robert A. Gross, The Minutemen and their World, (Hill and Wang) 1976.
Websites and Journals
Jerald C. Brauer, Protestantism in America: A Narrative History (Chapter 4- "Religion and Revolution)
http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showchapter?chapter_id=1968
John F. Wilson, Religion and Revolution in American History, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History," Vol. 23, No. 3, Religion and History. (Winter, 1993), pp. 597-613.
... Bobrick, Benson. Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War. New York: Atheneum, 2004. Print.
“Revolutions do not sustain themselves through ideas alone” (Breen 17). American Insurgents, American Patriots is a scholarly novel that researches and tells about the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War from a different viewpoint then normal works on the revolution. It was written by T.H. Breen and published in 2010 by Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, who have been awarded twenty-one nobel prizes in literature. Hill and Wang focus on historical nonfiction works for the educated reader (Macmillan). The book may appear to be novel like, however, it is a scholarly work and has been reviewed by multiple professors of history at respected universities. Aside from
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
Stokesbury, James L. A short History of the American Revolution. New York. William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1991.
2. Alden, John. A History of the American Revolution. New York: Da Capo Press, 1969. (accessed November 7, 2013).
Greene, J. P., & Pole, J. R. (Eds.). (2008). A Companion to the American Revolution (Vol. 17). John Wiley & Sons.
...n Revolution Reference Library. Ed. Barbara Bigelow, Stacy A. McConnell, and Linda Schmittroth. Vol. 2: Biographies, Vol. 2. Detroit: UXL, 2000. 443-450. U.S. History in Context. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
The mid-1700s were undoubtedly the ultimate festival of the troubled. People around the world felt a sense of conflict as class systems developed in various countries. Beginning in the 1770s, the North American Revolution set the tone for a series of revolutions throughout the Atlantic. From France to Haiti, and from Central America to South America, people fought for a right to prosper.
Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Eugene D. Genovese, “Religion in the Collapse of the American Union,” in Religion and the American Civil War, ed. Randall M. Miller (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 43-73.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Gordon S. Wood, in The Radicalism of the American Revolution, discusses what it means to be truly revolutionary. In this work, Wood shares his thoughts on the Revolutionary War and whether or not it was a movement radical enough to be considered an honest revolution. Wood discusses the reasoning behind the views of those in favor of the war being considered radical, as well as the views of those who believe the American Revolution to be unfortunately misnamed. He claims that “the Revolution was the most radical and most far- reaching event in American history.” Wood’s work is a valuable source for those studying the revolution because it redefines what it means to be radical, but the piece is also limited by the lack of primary information
Foner, Eric. "SLAVERY AND THE REVOLUTION." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 182-84. Print.
Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of the American Revolution. New York: William Morrow and Company, 2001.
York, Neil L.. "Freemasons and the American Revolution." The Historian 55, no. 2 (1993): 315-330.