Introduction
The American Revolution presents historians and students with
a number of complex and interesting questions.
Long seen as essentially a debate
over constitutional principles, the
American Revolution now encompasses a myriad of other themes.
In these pages, we hope to present material focusing on a number
of other questions.
As far back as 1909, Carl Becker, in a seminal study of New York in the Revolution, asserted that in addition to the constitutional debate over the place of the American colonies in the British empire, home rule, a major question of the Revolution was "who should rule at home?" Was the Revolution to be a true social transformation, or merely the exchange of one set of leaders for another?
Another interesting problem of studying the Revolution involves the large numbers of Americans who refused to follow the patriot cause. "Unite or die" was the patriot's slogan, yet they proved far from united in their fight for independence. What was the Loyalist perception of the Revolution?
Historians' reliance upon written sources can lead to a neglect of the revolutionary experiences of the non-elite sections of colonial America. In a famous passage, John Adams wrote that the American Revolution was in the "hearts and minds" of the American people before the actual struggle began. Adams was writing after the event and may have exagerrated the extent of patriotic fervor, but the revolution as experience itself transformed the lives of thousands. How did the war change the lives of the common soldiers, native Americans, women, and black slaves and freemen and women?
A final fascinating question of the Revolution lies in the extent to which it actually changed American society as well as in the ways it is remembered. The Legacy of the Revolution examines the changes.
To help you in your study of the Revolution, we have provided a Reading list. It is by no means exhaustive, but includes some good secondary works to get you started. For teachers, we have created a Suggested Activities page (no students allowed!!)