Rating: 
Summary: The basic facts of the American Revolution explained
Review: Originally published in 1956 and revised in 1977, this book is probably familiar to a couple of generations of college students. This may well be the most accessible overview of the formative history of America. As an overview, of course, it does not go into great detail about the myriad of topics debated by historians still today, but it does hit most of the predominant features of the Revolutionary story. Morgan builds his work around the premise that the Founding Fathers did indeed operate on principle in building a new nation and that the struggle eventually framed itself as a pursuit of equality among all men. He admits that many of the decisions made by the leaders of the Revolution did equate to economic or property gains for themselves, but he argues that this is not contradictory at all with a commitment to liberty because liberty in the 18th century essentially hinged on land ownership. He also rationalizes the contradiction of slavery's continued existence being incorporated into the Constitution by arguing that the convention delegates acted out of urgent concern for the future of a government in its death throes at the hands of a powerless Congress as set up by the Articles of Confederation--without such compromise, the important new Constitution could not have been ratified by a sufficient number of states before the young nation collapsed at the feet of the British and Spanish. Morgan first examines the increasingly rocky relationship between the English Parliament and the colonies--specifically, the debate over taxation and infringement of liberties that led up to the declaration of independence. He devotes a few pages to the war but does not delve very deeply into military matters. Morgan does an excellent job explaining why the Articles of Confederation failed and how the problems of that system were widely recognized, frankly debated, and resolved in the creation of a new national government established upon the bedrock of a new federal Constitution. Aside from Morgan's excellent treatment of the birth of the American republic, this book also features the texts of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and federal Constitution; a timeline of important events; and a pretty expansive discussion of source materials published before 1977. In sum, this book is ideal for anyone just wanting to learn or review the pivotal events surrounding the creation of the United States without having to sift through scholarly criticisms and debates of important yet secondary aspects of the story.
Rating:
Summary: The basic facts of the American Revolution explained
Review: Originally published in 1956 and revised in 1977, this book is probably familiar to a couple of generations of college students. This may well be the most accessible overview of the formative history of America. As an overview, of course, it does not go into great detail about the myriad of topics debated by historians still today, but it does hit most of the predominant features of the Revolutionary story. Morgan builds his work around the premise that the Founding Fathers did indeed operate on principle in building a new nation and that the struggle eventually framed itself as a pursuit of equality among all men. He admits that many of the decisions made by the leaders of the Revolution did equate to economic or property gains for themselves, but he argues that this is not contradictory at all with a commitment to liberty because liberty in the 18th century essentially hinged on land ownership. He also rationalizes the contradiction of slavery's continued existence being incorporated into the Constitution by arguing that the convention delegates acted out of urgent concern for the future of a government in its death throes at the hands of a powerless Congress as set up by the Articles of Confederation--without such compromise, the important new Constitution could not have been ratified by a sufficient number of states before the young nation collapsed at the feet of the British and Spanish. Morgan first examines the increasingly rocky relationship between the English Parliament and the colonies--specifically, the debate over taxation and infringement of liberties that led up to the declaration of independence. He devotes a few pages to the war but does not delve very deeply into military matters. Morgan does an excellent job explaining why the Articles of Confederation failed and how the problems of that system were widely recognized, frankly debated, and resolved in the creation of a new national government established upon the bedrock of a new federal Constitution. Aside from Morgan's excellent treatment of the birth of the American republic, this book also features the texts of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and federal Constitution; a timeline of important events; and a pretty expansive discussion of source materials published before 1977. In sum, this book is ideal for anyone just wanting to learn or review the pivotal events surrounding the creation of the United States without having to sift through scholarly criticisms and debates of important yet secondary aspects of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Reluctant Revolution (4.5 *s)
Review: Perhaps independence from Great Britain was inevitable, but Great Britain herself had precipitated the Colonies declaring themselves to be "Free and Independent States" in 1776. The colonial settlers thought themselves to be entitled to all of the constitutional rights of Englishmen, especially the rights to liberty. When Parliament sought to enhance its poor revenue collections by imposing extra taxes on the colonies by the Sugar and Stamp Acts of 1764-65, the colonists immediately invoked rights to be directly represented before taxes could be imposed. The author shows that it was those acts that started a reexamination of the colonies' relationship to Great Britain.
Though those acts were repealed, Parliament was fixated on imposing its authority on the colonies. The colonists rejected the notion of "virtual" representation, and moved from a position of rejecting taxation yet accepting general legislation to one of questioning any jurisdiction by Parliament. The author distinguishes the American Revolution from more far-reaching social revolutions and from nationalistic impulses. The colonists in their minds merely wanted the freedoms enjoyed by all Englishmen.
But opposition to a central government proved to be an insufficient basis for establishing a viable political entity. The Articles of Confederation proposed in 1777 left the Congress without any teeth to enforce its provisions, especially in collecting revenues. The securities that Congress offered to fund the war soon became greatly debased because of the Congress's unsound financial basis. Even after having defeated England through some timely help by France and British ineptitude, governing realities and existing in a world of hostile nations forced colonial leaders to call for a constitutional convention in 1787 a mere four years after signing the peace treaty.
In many ways the Constitution was more controversial than declaring independence. The author discusses any number of conflicts that arose: small states versus large states, where a compromise was reached subordinating the equality of men to the equality of states in determining the basis of representation in the Senate; slave states versus free states, where each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person for representation at the cost of banning further importation of slaves after 1808; an independent executive and judiciary elements were established with some power to override the Congress; and the financial interests of the well-to-do were protected in having the value of securities upheld. It is clear that the idealism of the language in the Declaration had been considerably reduced.
Despite its brevity, this book sufficiently explores the events and the mindset of the colonists from the Stamp Act to the Revolution, through the Revolutionary and the Articles period, and into the Constitution making stage for the reader to gain a good understanding of how a content people could find themselves living in an independent nation with a Constitution that has withstood the test of time, though suffering some shocks along the way - all in the span of twenty-five years.
Rating: 
Summary: A breif history of revolutionary times
Review: This book is a great over view of the time before, during, and after the revolution. I must confess that I read this as a required text book for my American history class. It is the first and possibly only text book that I can say I liked well enough to read all the way through and like it. This book goes very breifly over the events in a very readable fashion. Those studying history (such as myself) can always read a companion to the revolution along with it to go more in depth into the revolution. For those who only want a brief history this book is perfect.
Rating:
Summary: A breif history of revolutionary times
Review: This book is a great over view of the time before, during, and after the revolution. I must confess that I read this as a required text book for my American history class. It is the first and possibly only text book that I can say I liked well enough to read all the way through and like it. This book goes very breifly over the events in a very readable fashion. Those studying history (such as myself) can always read a companion to the revolution along with it to go more in depth into the revolution. For those who only want a brief history this book is perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book presents the American Revolution as a great conflict, not just of men or nations, but of ideas. It tells, not just about the battles, but about the reasons behind the battles. It is the best history book that I have ever encountered
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