The American Revolution 1963-83 by Herbert Aptheker
By FRANTZ
notes on Aptheker's book on the American Revolution
# Chapter 1
Conservative Revisionists of the American Revolution:
1. Prof. Daniel J Boorstin (1953) and Daughters of Revolution say it was "hardly a revolution at all" with no "passion of national unity"
2. De Tocqueville says the US was Democratic without ever having had a Democratic Revolution
3. Louis Hartz and Robert E. Brown argues Americans sought stability while Britain sought revolutionary change. "this makes radicalism irrelevant". colonial America painted as an advanced "middle class democracy". Analysis inspired by Edward Channing, 1912, and W.E.H. Lecky, 18th century
4. Charles M Andrews: US revolution contributed "nothing to the cause of progressive liberalism or... democratic ideals"
5. Charles R. Ritcheson, John Richard Alden, Max Savelle and Richard B. Morris paint the revolution as "mutual misunderstanding" and insufficiently astute British administration
Economic Determinists:
1. Emory J. Johnson blames the necessity of securing free trade and control of taxation
2. J Franklin Jameson identifies parliamentary trade restriction as underlying cause
3. Edward Channing, Charles A Beard, Louis M. Hacker point to conflicts btw properties groups and classes, but also blame commercialism. Beard & Hacker explicitly use terms like bourgeoisie, mercantilism, and capitalism, Charles M Andrews accused them of being materialists.
4. Many other authors with differing view of "Navigation and Trade Acts" and their impact, including Oliver M. Dickerson
Anti-Economic Determinists:
1. Eric Robson: "political ideas, not tea or taxes" caused the war
2. Thomas J. Weternbaker: colonists "were sacrificing fare more in an economic sense than they gained". Says it was over self-governance alone.
Scholars with unique, dialectical insights:
1. Charles H. Lincoln: inter-imperial and intra-colonial struggle merged to create the revolution
2. Carl L. Becker: open questions of home rule and who rules at home were central to revolutionary ferment
3. Arthurt M. Schlesinger and Merill Jensen add new evidence to substantiate Becker's view. Becker's view is "basically sound" despite attacks from Robert E Brown
Charles M. Andrews:
- despite rejecting democracy impacting the revolution, still had interesting views of nature and origins