Political Community in Revolutionary Pennsylvania, 1774-1800

Erscheinungsjahr 2018
ISBN: 978-0-19-882797-9
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 218 Seiten, Format (B × H): 142 mm x 218 mm, Gewicht: 440 g

Reihe: Oxford Historical Monographs

Political Community in Revolutionary Pennsylvania challenges the ways we understand popular sovereignty in the American Revolution. Whereas previous histories place undue focus on elite political thought or analysis based on class, this study argues that it was ordinary citizens that cared most about the establishment of a proper, representative, publicly legitimate political process. Popular activism constrained the options available to leaders and created
a system through which the actions of government were made more representative of the will of the community. Political Community in Revolutionary Pennsylvania analyzes political developments in Pennsylvania from 1774, when Americans united in opposition to Britain's Intolerable Acts, through to 1800 and the
election of Thomas Jefferson. It looks at the animating philosophy of the Pennsylvania state constitution of 1776, a 'radical manifesto' which espoused a vision of popular sovereignty in which government was devolved from the people only where necessary. Even when governmental institutions were necessary, their legitimacy rested on being able to clearly demonstrate that they operated on popular consent, expressed in a variety of forms of popular mobilization.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Owen, Kenneth

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Postkoloniale Geschichte, Nationale Befreiung und Unabhängigkeit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Geschichte der Revolutionen

Über Autor(innen)

Kenneth Owen is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Illinois Springfield. He holds a BA, MSt, and DPhil from Queen's College, Oxford. He previously taught at Ohio University and the University of Sussex. He currently teaches courses on Colonial and Revolutionary America, the Early American Republic, Native American history, and the use of digital media.