The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding
Winner of the Society of the Cincinnati History Prize, Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey Finalist, George Washington Prize A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2015
Generations of students have been taught that the American Revolution was a revolt against royal tyranny. In this revisionist account, Eric Nelson argues that a great many of our “founding fathers” saw themselves as rebels against the British Parliament, not the Crown. The Royalist Revolution interprets the patriot campaign of the 1770s as an insurrection in favor of royal power—driven by the conviction that the Lords and Commons had usurped the just prerogatives of the monarch.
“The Royalist Revolution is a thought-provoking book, and Nelson is to be commended for reviving discussion of the complex ideology of the American Revolution. He reminds us that there was a spectrum of opinion even among the most ardent patriots and a deep British influence on the political institutions of the new country.” —Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Wall Street Journal
“A scrupulous archaeology of American revolutionary thought.” —Thomas Meaney, The Nation
“A powerful double-barrelled challenge to historiographical orthodoxy.” —Colin Kidd, London Review of Books
“[A] brilliant and provocative analysis of the American Revolution.” —John Brewer, New York Review of Books
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The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding
Winner of the Society of the Cincinnati History Prize, Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey Finalist, George Washington Prize A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2015
Generations of students have been taught that the American Revolution was a revolt against royal tyranny. In this revisionist account, Eric Nelson argues that a great many of our “founding fathers” saw themselves as rebels against the British Parliament, not the Crown. The Royalist Revolution interprets the patriot campaign of the 1770s as an insurrection in favor of royal power—driven by the conviction that the Lords and Commons had usurped the just prerogatives of the monarch.
“The Royalist Revolution is a thought-provoking book, and Nelson is to be commended for reviving discussion of the complex ideology of the American Revolution. He reminds us that there was a spectrum of opinion even among the most ardent patriots and a deep British influence on the political institutions of the new country.” —Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Wall Street Journal
“A scrupulous archaeology of American revolutionary thought.” —Thomas Meaney, The Nation
“A powerful double-barrelled challenge to historiographical orthodoxy.” —Colin Kidd, London Review of Books
“[A] brilliant and provocative analysis of the American Revolution.” —John Brewer, New York Review of Books
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The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding
Winner of the Society of the Cincinnati History Prize, Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey Finalist, George Washington Prize A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2015
Generations of students have been taught that the American Revolution was a revolt against royal tyranny. In this revisionist account, Eric Nelson argues that a great many of our “founding fathers” saw themselves as rebels against the British Parliament, not the Crown. The Royalist Revolution interprets the patriot campaign of the 1770s as an insurrection in favor of royal power—driven by the conviction that the Lords and Commons had usurped the just prerogatives of the monarch.
“The Royalist Revolution is a thought-provoking book, and Nelson is to be commended for reviving discussion of the complex ideology of the American Revolution. He reminds us that there was a spectrum of opinion even among the most ardent patriots and a deep British influence on the political institutions of the new country.” —Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Wall Street Journal
“A scrupulous archaeology of American revolutionary thought.” —Thomas Meaney, The Nation
“A powerful double-barrelled challenge to historiographical orthodoxy.” —Colin Kidd, London Review of Books
“[A] brilliant and provocative analysis of the American Revolution.” —John Brewer, New York Review of Books
Eric Nelson is the Robert M. Beren Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding, The Hebrew Republic: Jewish Sources and the Transformation of European Political Thought (both from Harvard), and The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought.
Table of Contents
Introduction "The War of Parliament" 1
1 Patriot Royalism The Stuart Monarchy and the Turn to Prerogative, 1768-1775 29
2 "One Step Farther, and We Are Got Back to Where We Set Out From" Patriots and the Royalist Theory of Representation 66
3 "The Lord Alone Shall Be King of America" 1776, Common Sense, and the Republican Turn 108
4 "The Old Government, as Near as Possible" Royalism in the Wilderness, 1776-1780 146
5 "All Know That a Single Magistrate Is Not a King" Royalism and the Constitution of 1787 184