Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Primary Sources

Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Primary Sources

Historical documents. What clues can you gather about the time, place, players, and culture?

Locke: An Inspiration for Revolution

John Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1690) is available online here.

The Founding Documents

Editor Samuel Eliot Morison has compiled an excellent collection of founding documents, state constitutions, and pamphlets.

An Alternative Perspective

Peter Oliver's Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion (1781) is a Loyalist account of the Revolution, before the Treaty of Paris had formally concluded it.

Capitalism Is Born

Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) represents the founding tract of modern economics.

The Stamp Act

We've got an entire learning guide devoted to the much-hated Stamp Act of 1765 that helped spark the American Revolution.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

We have a learning guide on the treaty that ended the war, too.