Historiography of the American Revolution (original) (raw)

British Visions of America, 1775-1820: Republican Realities

2015

We defy the most learned chronologist, the most intelligent annalist, the most industrious antiquary, and the most diligent inquirer into the facts and records of past times, to produce from history, ancient or modern, any parallel for such situations. In truth, no such nation as the United States, all circumstances considered, has ever been discovered in the political hemisphere. 1 So the Anti-Jacobin Review summed up the enigma that the American republic continued to constitute for conservative observers in Britain in the early decades of its existence. In this particular instance, months before the outbreak of the Anglo-American War of 1812, the writer was both confounded and outraged that 'a nation, insignificant in the scale of power, in the infancy almost of civilization, and with a circumscribed revenue, arising from sources over which she had not absolute controul' should be 'publicly discussing, in her legislative bodies, not only the propriety and necessity of war with a friendly state, but the means of carrying it on, and the objects to which it should be directed!' 2 How to square the circle of presumed American incompetence with a rising anxiety regarding its potential was an unspoken (and perhaps unrecognised dilemma) for British conservative commentators during these decades. Conservative writers articulated a largely hostile attitude towards the United States of America between 1792 and 1820. They admitted that there were some reasons to admire the achievements of the new republic; and apprehension, which was also expressed, implies some form of respect. It proved to be much too soon yet, however, for writers at this end of the British political spectrum to admit the reality of the establishment of a successful federal republic in place of their thirteen colonies, to 'embrace closure', and to accept that they had departed from the British empire without disintegrating into interstate conflict, political collapse, economic ruin and loss of all international stature. They had been convinced that an American republic was not viable, His agricultural concerns had led him not only to investigate France in the years leading up to the Revolution, but also to take an interest in America: he corresponded at some length with George Washington about farming in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 8 Canning (1770-1827), a protégé of the Younger Pitt and an MP from 1793, was Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1796 and 1799, and Foreign Secretary between 1807 and 1809, the latter in particular a period of rising tension between Britain and America over the maritime rights of neutral nations during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He founded the Anti-Jacobin in 1797 to counter the liberal Monthly Magazine and 'to set the mind of the people right upon every subject'. In 1809 he established the Quarterly Review with the novelist Walter Scott in direct opposition to the liberal Edinburgh Review. 9 The Quarterly Review was an organ which consistently criticized the new American constitution and argued that Britain was too conciliatory towards America in the long-running dispute. Although Canning was a leading contributor to the short-lived Anti-Jacobin, he wrote very little himself for the Quarterly Review, and his own pronouncements on America were chiefly made to the House of Commons both during and after his tenure as Foreign Secretary. 10 John Wilson Croker (1780-1857) was Canning's colleague both in Parliament and on the Quarterly Review. He entered Parliament in 1807, and held the post of Secretary to the Admiralty between 1809 and 1830, in which capacity he, like Canning, had much to say about American diplomacy. His Key to the Orders in Council (1812) was written at the request of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, to explain government policy towards America, and published at the expense of the Treasury. Thousands of copies were said to have been sent to America as well as to British coastal towns. 11 Although his other pamphlet on the War of 1812, a collection of letters he had published in the Courier under the pseudonym Nereus (the Greek god of the

A people's history of the American Revolution

's critical history of the American Revolution against British rule and its impact on ordinary people. Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empire. In the process, they could hold back a number of potential rebellions and create a consensus of popular support for the rule of a new, privileged leadership. When we look at the American Revolution this way, it was a work of genius, and the Founding Fathers deserve the awed tribute they have received over the centuries. They created the most effective system of national control devised in modern times, and showed future generations of leaders the advantages of combining paternalism with command.

A Conservative Revolution: the bid for independence in North America.

This paper argues that the American Revolution was relatively conservative in nature. Please note: If you are a student at any University, and you wish to cite my essay, do so prudently. It has not been published in any journal or paper, and will not be considered a properly peer-reviewed source by your teachers. Instead, I would advise you to bounce off my ideas; use them to deepen your own inquiries into the topic.