The Eve of the Revolution; A Chronicle of the Breach with EnglandBecker, Carl L. (Carl Lotus)
History
The Eve of the Revolution; A Chronicle of the Breach with England
Becker, Carl L. (Carl Lotus)
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783; United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783
Contemporary Writings; Many of the most important documents for this
period are in the following brief collections: W. Macdonald,
Select Charters and Other Documents, 1906; H. W. Preston, Documents
Illustrative of American History, 5th ed., 1900; H. Niles, Principles
and Acts of the Revolution in America, 1822; J. Almon, Collection of
Papers Relative to the Dispute between Great Britain and America, 1777
(commonly cited as Prior Documents). The spirit of the times is best
seen in the contemporary newspapers, many extracts from which are
printed in F. Moore, Diary of the American Revolution from the
Newspapers and Original Documents, 1863. Of the numberless controversial
pamphlets, the following are noteworthy: J. Otis, Rights of the British
Colonies Asserted and Proved, 1764; D. Dulaney, Considerations on the
Propriety of Imposing Taxes on the British Colonies, 1765; J. Dickinson,
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British
Colonies, 1768 (also in Writings of John Dickinson, 3 vols. 1895); W.
Knox, The Controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies Reviewed,
1769 (excellent pro-British reply to Dickinson); S. Jenyns, The
Objections to the Taxation of Our American Colonies ... Briefly
Considered, 1765; J. Wilson, Considerations on the Nature and Extent of
the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, 1774 (also in The
Works of James Wilson, 2 vols. 1896); S. Seabury, Free Thoughts on the
Proceedings of the Continental Congress, 1774; T. Paine, Common
Sense, 1776 (also in Writings of Thomas Paine, 4 vols. 1894-96). These
pamphlets are not available to most readers, but all of them, together
with many others, have been admirably described and summarized in M. C.
Tyler, The Literary History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. 1897.
The letters and public papers of the leaders of the Revolution have been
mostly printed, among which some of the most valuable and interesting
collections are: C. F. Adams, The Works of John Adams, 10 vols. 1856
(vol. II); J. Adams, Familiar Letters of John Adams and his Wife Abigail
Adams, 1875; W. C. Ford, The Warren-Adams Letters, 1917 (vol. I); A.
H. Smyth, The Writing's of Benjamin Franklin, 10 vols. 1905-1907 (vols.
IV-VI); P. L. Ford, The Writings of John Dickinson, 3 vols. 1895; H.
A. Cushing, The Writings of Samuel Adams, 4 vols. 1904-1908; P. O.
Hutchinson, Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson, 2 vols. 1884. The
following works give the history of the time as it appeared to
various contemporaries: W. Gordon, History of the Rise, Progress, and
Establishment of American Independence, 4 vols. 1788 (parts of the
work taken bodily from the Annual Register); D. Ramsey, History of the
Revolution of South Carolina, 2 vols. 1785; A. Graydon, Memoirs of His
Own Times, 1846; T. Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts Bay, 3 vols.
1795-1828 (based on documents collected by the author, some of which
were destroyed in the Stamp Act riots); Mercy Warren, History of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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