The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787 - Softcover

Wood, Gordon S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 039331040X ISBN 13: 9780393310405

Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1993

Synopsis

By delving into the unique philosophical assumptions which distinguish the political attitudes of the colonists from classical, medieval ideas, the author illuminates the concepts of the Constitution

About this title

Review:

Gordon S. Wood--winner of the Pulitzer Prize and professor of American history at Brown University--had no idea what he was getting into when he began this 653-page book. Innocently, he wanted to write a "monographic analysis of constitution-making in the Revolutionary era." Little did he know he would discover an intellectual world where a complete transformation of political thought was occurring, one that would create "a distinctly American system of politics." As Wood explains, "Beneath the variety and idiosyncrasies of American opinion there emerged a general pattern of beliefs about the social process--a set of common assumptions about history, society, and politics that connected and made significant seemingly discrete and unrelated ideas. Really for the first time I began to glimpse what late eighteenth-century Americans meant when they talked about living in an enlightened age." This original study of the American political system is a strong contribution to the scholarly studies of the events surrounding the nation's independence.

Book Description:

"One of the half dozen most important books ever written about the American Revolution."-- New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 039331040X
• ISBN 13: 9780393310405
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 668