Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 1760-1791

Richard D. Brown, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, is a 1961 graduate of Oberlin College who attended Harvard on a Woodrow Wilson Scholarship, earning his Ph.D. in 1966. Before coming to the University of Connecticut in 1971, he taught as a Fulbright lecturer in France and at Oberlin College. His research and teaching interests have been in the political, social, and cultural history of early America. His current project, "The Challenge of Equality in the Early Republic," employs microhistory and narrative. A past president of the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic and the New England Historical Association, Brown has held fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others.

Designed to encourage critical thinking about history, the Major Problems in American History series introduces students to both primary sources and analytical essays on important topics in U.S. history. Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution, 3rd Edition, delves into the many facets of the colonial uprising and its aftermath, concluding with the ratification of the Bill of Rights. The volume combines primary sources, analytical essays, chapter introductions, and headnotes to encourage students to think critically about the revolutionary era.

1. THE CONSEQUENCES OF REVOLUTION. ESSAYS: Gordon S. Wood, "Empire of Liberty: The History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815" (Oxford, 2010); Alfred F. Young, "Beyond the American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism" (Northern Illinois, 1993); Gary B. Nash, "Sparks from the Altar of '76: International Repercussions and Reconsiderations of the American Revolution," in David Armitage and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, eds., The Age of Revolution in Global Context, c. 1760-1840 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). 2. THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND THE WAR FOR NORTH AMERICA. Problem: What were British and American expectations at the end of the Seven Years War? DOCUMENTS 1. Benjamin Franklin Touts the Importance of Imperial Ties between Britain and America 2. The British Treasury Attempts to Reform the Customs Service 3. Rev. Thomas Barnard Looks to Future Glories, 1763 4. Charles Jenkinson Justifies Customs Reform 5. King George III Seeks to Limit Westward Expansion 6. George Washington Scorns the Proclamation of 1763 3. BRITISH REFORMS AND COLONIAL RESISTANCE. Problem: What challenges did Great Britain face in attempting to implement its authority? DOCUMENTS 1. Patrick Henry Resolves against the Stamp Act 2. New York Reacts Violently to the Stamp Act 3. The Stamp Act Congress Articulates the Rights of the Colonists, 1765 4. Lord Camden (Charles Pratt) Exhorts Parliament to Change Direction, 1766 5. Parliament Declares Its Authority, 1766 6. John Dickinson Rallies the Colonists to Opposition, 1767-1768 (abridged from 2nd edition) 7. Charleston Merchants Propose a Plan of Nonimportation, 1769 8. North Carolinians Seek Regulation ESSAYS: Benjamin L. Carp, Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution (Oxford, 2007); Wayne E. Lee, "Crowds and Soldiers in Revolutionary North Carolina: The Culture of Violence in Riot and War" (Florida, 2001). 4. THE IMPERIAL CRISIS AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Problem: What were the broader meanings of the Declaration of Independence? DOCUMENTS 1. A Witness Reports on Boston's Opposition to the Tea Act 2. Lord North Calls for Punishing the Town of Boston 3. Gouverneur Morris Remarks on Popular Mobilization in New York City 4. Thomas Jefferson Asserts American Rights, July 1774 5. The First Continental Congress Enumerate American Rights and Establish a Continental Association, 1774 6. Shots Fired at Lexington and Concord 7. Patriots Intimidate New Jersey Loyalist, 1775 8. Thomas Paine Calls for Common Sense, 1776 9. The United States Declare Independence, 1776 10. A Patriot Urges Congress to Execute Loyalists, 1776 11. Thomas Hutchinson Criticizes Declaration of Independence, 1776 ESSAYS: Brendan McConville, "The King's Three Faces: The Rise & Fall of Royal America, 1688-1776" (UNC, 2006); David Armitage, "The Declaration of Independence: A Global History"(Harvard, 2007). 5. STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE. Problem: How did Americans define loyalty and service in an age of civil war? DOCUMENTS 1. George Washington Asks Congress for an Effective Army, September 24, 1776. 2. Congress Calls on States to Support Continental Army, September 24, 1776 3. A Veteran Remembers the Battle of Saratoga, 1777 4. Benjamin Rush Contrasts Loyalists & Patriots, 1777. 5. A Whig Newspaper Attacks the Loyalists, 1779 6. A Soldier Views Mutiny Among American Troops, 1780 (Joseph Plumb Martin) 7. George Washington Explains Army Problems and Calls for Help, August 27, 1780 8. Two Views of the Battle of Yorktown, 1781 (Benjamin Gilbert, Sarah Osborne) 9. Loyalists Plead Their Cause to King, Parliament, and the British People, 1782 10. Elizabeth Lichtenstein Johnson Recalls Her Exile ESSAYS: Michael McDonnell, "Class War? Class Struggles during the American Revolution in Virginia" (WMQ, 2006); Maya Jasanoff, "The Other Side of Revolution: Loyalists in the British Empire" (WMQ, 2008). 6. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN THE WEST. Problem: What major issues were being played out on the frontier during the War for Independence? DOCUMENTS 1. Logan Laments the Murder of His Fellow Mingos, 1775 2. New York Mourns the Death of an Indian Killer, 1775 3. Oneida Indians Declare Neutrality, 1775 4. The North Carolina Delegation Urges Extirpation of the Cherokee 5. George Washington Orders an Expedition against the Iroquois 6. An American Officer Observes the Destruction of Iroquois Homes and Crops 7. A Missionary Describes the Massacre at Gnaddenhutten 8. Chickasaw Indians Seek Help, July 1783 ESSAYS: John Grenier, "The First Way of War: American War Making on the Frontier" (Cambridge, 2005); Gregory Evans Dowd, "A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815" (JHU, 1992). 7. ARE ALL MEN EQUAL? THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHALLENGE. Problem: What was the nature of the struggle for black equality during the Revolutionary Era? DOCUMENTS 1. Venture Smith, a Connecticut Slave, Earns His Freedom, 1729-66 [from chap. 2 of 2e] 2. Massachusetts Slaves Argue for Freedom, April 20, 1773 3. Lord Dunmore Promises Freedom to Slaves Who Fight for Britain, 1775 4. Lemuel Haynes Attacks Slavery, 1776 5. New Hampshire African-Americans Petition for Freedom 6. Three Virginia Counties Defend Slavery, November 1785 7. Boston King Describes His Deliverance from Slavery 8. Jehu Grant, Former Slave, Seeks Compensation for His Wartime Service ESSAYS: Christopher L. Brown, "Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism" (North Carolina, 2006); Manisha Sinha, "To 'Cast Just Obliquy' on Oppressors: Black Radicalism in the Age of Revolution" (WMQ, 2007). 8. GENDER AND CITIZENSHIP IN A REVOLUTIONARY REPUBLIC. Problem: Did the Revolutionary Era bring about radical change for American women? DOCUMENTS 1. Hannah Griffits Enlists Women for Nonimportation 2. Thomas Paine Admits Women Have Some Rights. 3. Abigail & John Adams Debate Women's Rights, March to May, 1776 4. An American Woman Asserts Women's Rights 5. Benjamin Rush Prescribes a Plan of Education for American Women 6. A "Lady" and "Gentleman" Debate the Condition of Women 7. Judith Sargent Murray Argues for Women's Equality ESSAYS: Rosemary Zagarri, "Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic" (Penn, 2007) Elaine Forman Crane, "Ebb Tide in New England: Women, Seaports, and Social Change, 1630-1800" (Northeastern, 1998). 9. RELIGION AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Problem: Was the American Revolution more of a secular or Christian event? DOCUMENTS 1. A Worcester Writer Defends Religious Establishment, 1776 2. Virginia Baptists Assert Their Rights 3. William Tennent Argues against Religious Establishment 4. Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, 1780 5. Boston Supports Religion for the Sake of Order, 1780 6. Ashby, MA, Opposes Religious Establishment, 1780 7. Ezra Stiles Projects the Future of Christianity in America, May 8, 1783 8. Philadelphia Jews Seek Equality before the Law, 1783 9. James Madison Protests Religious Taxes, 1785 10. Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty 1786 ESSAYS: Mark A. Noll, "The American Revolution and Protestant Evangelicalism" (JIH, 1993); Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People (harvard, 1990). 10. GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. Problem: How did the problems of the Confederation Era prompt a search for a stronger national constitution? DOCUMENTS 1. Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, 1781. 2. Congress Passes an Ordinance on Western Lands, May 20, 1785 3. Northwest Ordinance, 1787 4. Congressman Charles Pinckney Admonishes the NJ Legislature, 1786 5. Kentucky Farmers Reconsider Their Allegiance 6. Delegates Report from Demoralized Congress, January and February, 1787 7. Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Farmers Call for Help, January 16, 1786 8. Regulators Call for Popular Support, December 7, 1786 9. MA Legislature Advises Thrift, Virtue, and Patience, 1786 10. James Madison Enumerates the Vices of the Political System, 1787 ESSAYS: Peter S. Onuf, "The Origins of the Federal Republic: Jurisdictional Controversies in the US, 1775-1787" (Penn, 1983) Robert A. Gross, "A Yankee Rebellion? The Regulators, New England, and the New Nation" (NEQ, 2009). 11. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1787. Problem: How did Americans formulate a new constitution, and what were the objections to the new system? DOCUMENTS 1. Edmund Randolph Presents the Virginia Plan, 1787 2. William Patterson Proposes the New Jersey Plan, 1787 3. The Convention Debates the New Jersey and Virginia Plans, 1787 4. The Convention Debates the Issues: Lower House, Sectional interests and Apportionment, Voter Qualifications, Slavery, 1787 5. The Constitution of the United States of America, 1787 6. The Federalist Expounds the Advantages of the Constitution, 1787-1788 7. Antifederalists Attack the Constitution, 1787-1788 8. Proceedings in the State Ratifying Conventions, 1788 9. North Carolina Declaration of Rights, 1788 10. The Bill of Rights, 1791 ESSAYS: Richard Beeman, "Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution" (Random House, 2009); Saul Cornell, "The Other Founders: Anti-Federalism and the Dissenting Tradition in America, 1788-1828" (North Carolina, 1999). 12. GOVERNMENT UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. Problem: What new dilemmas confronted Americans in the new nation? DOCUMENTS 1. Thomas Jefferson Envisions an Agrarian Republic 2. William Findley Argues for Equal Rights 3. Robert Morris Defends the Bank of North America 4. William Manning Expresses Distrust of the Propertied Class 5. Alexander Hamilton Calls for Federal Assumption of Debt 6. Alexander Hamilton Promotes American Industry 7. George Washington Addresses the State of the Union, and Indian Lands ESSAYS: Mark Schmeller, "The Political Economy of Opinion: Public Credit and Concepts of Public Opinion in the Age of Federalism" (Journal of the Early Republic, 2009); Terry Bouton, "A Road Closed: Rural Insurgency in Post-Independence Pennsylvania" (JAH, 2000). 13. MEMORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. DOCUMENTS 1. John Trumbull, The Death of Dr. Warren at the Battle of Bunkers-Hill (1786) 2. George H. Evans, "The Working Men's Declaration of Independence," 1829 3. The Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) 4. Frederick Douglass, Oration (1852) 5. State of South Carolina: Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union (1860 6. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863) ESSAYS: Sarah J. Purcell, "Sealed with Blood: War, Sacrifice, and Memory in Revolutionary America" (Penn, 2002), [chap. 2]; Matthew Dennis, "Red, White and Blue Letter Days: An American Calendar" (Cornell, 2005).