Posted on 03/30/2010 6:30:16 PM PDT by gusopol3
The great social antagonists of the American Revolution were not poor vs rich, workers vs employers or even democrats vs aristocrats. They were patriots vs courtiers-- categories appropriate to the monarchical world in which the colonists had been reared. Courtiers were persons whose position or rank came artificially from above-- from heredity or personal connections that ultimately came from the crown or court. Courtiers, said John Adams, were those who applied themselves " to the Passions and Prejudices, the Follies and Vices of Great Men in order to obtain their Smiles, Esteem, and Patronage and consequently their favors and Preferments." Patriots, on the other hand, were those who not only loved their country but were free of dependent connections and influence; their position or rank came from their talent and from below, from recognition by the people. " A real patriot, " declared one American in 1776, was " the most illustrious character in human life. Is not the interest and happinesss of his fellow creatures his care?"
Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Vintage press, 1991, pp.175-176.
I have to plug this book - I read it many years ago, and wow, is it incredible. I learned more about our real country from this book than perhaps any other source. Highly, way highly, recommended. Thanks for posting!
. How about Albion's Seed ?
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The difference is the emphasis on sociology versus psychology.Albion's Seed is a fascinating observation of the four basic cultures that became one to form America. But I still feel that The Radicalism of the American Revolution is the best focus on the the particular psychological traits that were distilled and fused into the essential American Spirit, and especially their concrete reality in those who are referred to as "Patriots" or "Founders," and what came to be known around the world as American. It's what Bogey distilled in his WWII movies, and what people saw in John Wayne - not the hokey externals, but the inner, shining personal dignity that our country is really all about.
I read that book years ago. My family was in upstate NY during the Revolution, Saratoga County, it was Civil war at its worst with the Indians thrown in for Color.
Do you know anything about the Knox trail from family history?
I was just thinking about buying this book about two days ago...Now I’ll put it up in the priority list.
Wood believes that the Constitution betrayed the promise of the Revolution.
Read his larger work, “Creation of the American Republic” for more on this. Wood sympathizes with the progressive view of the Constitution as a reformation that stymied the promises of the Revolution in the name of property holders and conservatives of the time.
Wood is well worth reading, but be careful.
Thank you, there’s a hint of this in the passage I quoted:
“Indeed, limiting popular government and protecting private property and minority rights without at the same time denying the sovereign public power of the people became the great dilemma of political leaders in the new republic; indeed, it remains the great dilemma of America’s constitutional democracy.”
All I know at present is we were certified as NYS Militia at Bennington and Saratoga plus the Sullivan Campaign against the Nine Nations minus a few. There is a Family History group with my real name but I don't know enough to barge in with jaw thrust forward.
The place you might want to look is the Mass Historical Society and I think that there is a similar outfit in NH, Vermont was NH in those days, Hampshire Grants. Once you find a name go to the LDS Family History Center in Cambridge, for Colonial Stuff, be careful errors occur.
Thanks !
I believe one of my Ancestors was registered as fighting in the Revolution.
Just dipping my toe in the Family History stuff myself...
Lots of verifying to do.
” How about Albion’s Seed ? “
A great book. Everything I’ve ever read by David Hackett Fischer has been excellent.
You might like Bernard Bailyn’s “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution “.
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