The Radicalism of the American Revolution

516 Pages·1993·2.59 MB·English

by  Gordon S. Wood

Praise for
GORDON S. WOOD’S
The Radicalism of
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
“Wood proclaims the culturally and politically transforming character of
the American Revolution in this deeply intelligent and beautifully
written masterwork.”
—Patricia U. Bonomi, New York University
“In his splendid new book Gordon Wood rescues the American
Revolution from those who would see it as a conservative or backward-
looking event … In a rapidly changing world, Wood provides a timely
reminder of the radical energy that drives popular democracy.”
—T. H. Breen, Northwestern University
“A landmark study, a superb achievement … The clarity of Wood’s
prose, the richness of his insights, and his choice of quotations and
anecdotes make this powerful book a delight to read.”
—Richard D. Brown, University of Connecticut
“Startlingly original … An authoritative account of one of the most
significant and hitherto elusive transformations in our nation’s past.”
—Richard Buel, Jr., Wesleyan University
“Indisputably the work of a remarkably creative and gifted historian.”
—Ronald Hoffman, University of Maryland
“A work that vividly re-creates the new American society with almost
Tocquevillean power and a brilliant historian’s flair for the complexities
of his subject.”
—Jack Rakove, Stanford University
GORDON S. WOOD
The Radicalism of
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Gordon S. Wood received his A.B. from Tufts University and his Ph.D.
from Harvard University. He has taught at the College of William and
Mary, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan, and was Pitt
Professor at Cambridge University in 1982–83. Since 1969 he has been
at Brown University, where he is presently University Professor and
Professor of History. In 1970 his book The Creation of the American
Republic, 1776–1787 was nominated for the National Book Award and
received the Bancroft and the John H. Dunning prizes.
ALSO BY GORDON S. WOOD
The Creation of the American Republic,
1776–1787

FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION, MARCH 1993
Copyright © 1991 by Gordon S. Wood All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random
House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited,
Toronto. Originally published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, in 1992.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wood, Gordon S.
Radicalism of the American Revolution / Gordon S. Wood.
p. cm.
Originally published: New York: A.A. Knopf, 1992.
eISBN: 978-0-307-75896-5
1. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Social aspects.
2. United States—Politics and government—1775–1783.
3. Radicalism—United States—History—18th century. 4. Political
culture—United States—History—18th century. I. Title.
[E209.W65 1993]
973.3’ 1—dc20 92-56347
v3.1
To Louise
Contents
Cover
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Introduction
I MONARCHY
1. Hierarchy
2. Patricians and Plebeians
3. Patriarchal Dependence
4. Patronage
5. Political Authority
II REPUBLICANISM
6. The Republicanization of Monarchy
7. A Truncated Society
8. Loosening the Bands of Society
9. Enlightened Paternalism
10. Revolution
11. Enlightenment
12. Benevolence
III DEMOCRACY
13. Equality
14. Interests
15. The Assault on Aristocracy
16. Democratic Officeholding
17. A World Within Themselves
18. The Celebration of Commerce
19. Middle-Class Order
Notes
Preface
This book is part of a continuing inquiry into the democratization of
early America that I have been engaged in during the past several
decades. Few subjects are more important to Americans, and perhaps to
the rest of the world as well. Americans were not born free and
democratic in any modern sense; they became so—and largely as a
consequence of the American Revolution. After eighteenth-century
Americans threw off their monarchical allegiance in 1776, they
struggled to find new attachments befitting a republican people. Living
in a society that was already diverse and pluralistic, Americans realized
that these attachments could not be the traditional ethnic, religious, and
tribal loyalties of the Old World. Instead, they sought new enlightened
connections to hold their new popular societies together. But when these
proved too idealistic and visionary, they eventually found new
democratic adhesives in the actual behavior of plain ordinary people—in
the everyday desire for the freedom to make money and pursue
happiness in the here and now. To base a society on the commonplace
behavior of ordinary people may be obvious and understandable to us
today, but it was momentously radical in the long sweep of world
history up to that time. This book attempts to explain this momentous
radicalism of the American Revolution.
An early version of the book was presented in February 1986 as the
Anson G. Phelps Lectures at New York University. I am very grateful to
New York University and its History Department for the honor of
inviting me to give the Phelps Lectures, which are the most prestigious
in the field of early American history. I especially want to thank Carl
Prince and Patricia U. Bonomi for their kindness and hospitality during
my visit to New York University.
A fellowship at the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral
Sciences provided the opportunity to enlarge the lectures and write the