{"id":229,"date":"2022-08-30T01:03:13","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T01:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/?page_id=229"},"modified":"2025-10-06T18:21:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:21:01","slug":"revolutionary-thinking","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/syllabus\/revolutionary-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionary Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>The Revolutionary era was the most creative period of constitutionalism in American history and one of the most creative in modern Western history.\u00a0 During the five or six decades between the early 1760s and the early nineteenth century, Americans debated and explored all aspects of politics and constitution-making &#8211;the nature of power and liberty, the differing ideas of representation, the importance of rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government or federalism, the doctrine of sovereignty, the limits of judicial authority, and the significance of written constitutions.\u00a0 There was scarcely an issue of politics and constitutionalism that eighteenth-century Americans didn&#8217;t touch upon. &#8211;Gordon Wood, Power and Liberty (2021), p. 2<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NRnOAiCUfMM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Imperial Debate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What was the difference between the British (and Whiggish) view of &#8220;virtual representation&#8221; and the American (or revolutionary) view of &#8220;actual representation&#8221;?<\/li>\n<li>Where did the American colonial leaders want their sovereignty to rest within the British empire?\u00a0 How did their views evolve, and where did they sometimes disagree with each other?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Colonial Crisis:\u00a0 A Timeline of Documents<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1763\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca\/royal_proclamation_1763\/\">Royal Proclamation<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1764\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/sugar_act_1764.asp\">Sugar Act<\/a> \/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/curency_act_1764.asp\">Currency Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1765\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gilderlehrman.org\/history-resources\/spotlight-primary-source\/stamp-act-1765\">Stamp Act<\/a> \/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/sons-of-liberty-members-causes\">Sons of Liberty<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1765\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com\/the-regulations-lately-made-concerning-the-colonies-by-thomas-whately.html\">Thomas Whately&#8217;s defense of Stamp Act<\/a> \/\/ <a href=\"http:\/\/www.let.rug.nl\/usa\/documents\/1751-1775\/daniel-dulany-considerations-october-1765.php\">Daniel Dulany&#8217;s response<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1766\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Franklin\/01-13-02-0035\">Benjamin Franklin&#8217;s testimony before the House of Commons<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1766\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/repeal_stamp_act_1766.asp\">Repeal of Stamp Act<\/a> \/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/declaratory_act_1766.asp\">Declaratory Act<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1767\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/townsend_act_1767.asp\">Townshend Duties<\/a> \/\/\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/deila.dickinson.edu\/theirownwords\/context\/0004.htm\">John Dickinson\u2019s Letters<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1769\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.hathitrust.org\/Record\/100259052\">William Knox&#8217;s defense of Parliamentary sovereignty<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1770\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-american\/image-reveres-boston-massacre-engraving\/\">Boston Massacre<\/a>\u00a0\/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/british-repeal-hated-townshend-act\">Repeal of Townshend Duties (except tea)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1773\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Regulating-Act\">Relief for East India Company<\/a> \/\/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.masshist.org\/revolution\/teaparty.php\">Boston Tea Party<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1774\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masshist.org\/revolution\/coercive.php\">Coercive or Intolerable Acts<\/a> \/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountvernon.org\/library\/digitalhistory\/digital-encyclopedia\/article\/first-continental-congress\/\">First Continental Congress<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Jefferson\/01-01-02-0094\">Association<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>1774\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/jeffsumm.asp\">Thomas Jefferson&#8217;s &#8220;Summary View&#8221; pamphlet<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1775\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.battlefields.org\/learn\/revolutionary-war\/battles\/lexington-and-concord\">Lexington &amp; Concord<\/a>\u00a0\/\/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.masshist.org\/revolution\/congress2.php\">Second Continental Congress<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1776\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/billofrightsinstitute.org\/primary-sources\/common-sense\">Thomas Paine\u2019s Common Sense \/<\/a>\/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/subject_menus\/constpap.asp\">State constitutions<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1776\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/declaration-transcript\">Declaration of Independence<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>State Constitutions<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why was a written constitution considered to be such a revolutionary development in the eighteenth century?<\/li>\n<li>What were some of the most significant innovations introduced by the various new state constitutions in the 1770s and 1780s?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_287\" style=\"width: 282px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Paine-1793.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-287\" class=\"wp-image-287 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Paine-1793-272x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"272\" height=\"300\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Paine-1793-272x300.png 272w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Paine-1793.png 546w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-287\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;To those unenlightened conservatives who dare to ask, where is the king? tell them [wrote Thomas Paine in Common Sense] &#8220;in America THE LAW IS KING.'&#8221; (Wood, p. 1)<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_286\" style=\"width: 233px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Jefferson-1791.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-286\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-286\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Jefferson-1791-223x300.png\" alt=\"Jefferson\" width=\"223\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Jefferson-1791-223x300.png 223w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Thomas-Jefferson-1791.png 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-286\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;In fact, said Thomas Jefferson in the spring of 1776, making the new state constitutions was &#8216;the whole object of the present controversy.'&#8221; (Wood, p. 33)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_285\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/John-Adams-1788.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-285\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-285\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/John-Adams-1788-300x272.png\" alt=\"Adams\" width=\"300\" height=\"272\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/John-Adams-1788-300x272.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/John-Adams-1788-768x697.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/John-Adams-1788.png 882w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-285\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;[John] Adams had a vested interest in the state constitutions, for no one had been more important than he in influencing the structure and form of the new republics.&#8221; (Wood, p. 35)<\/p><\/div><em>Images of Paine from 1793, Jefferson from 1791, and Adams from 1788.\u00a0 None of these men were present at the 1787 convention in Philadelphia.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Links to Revolutionary era state constitutions (via Avalon Project)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/nh09.asp\">Constitution of New Hampshire &#8211; January 5, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/sc01.asp\">Constitution of South Carolina &#8211; March 26, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/virginia.asp\">Virginia Declaration of Rights; June 12, 1776<\/a> (Constitution adopted June 29)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/nj15.asp\">Constitution of New Jersey; July 2, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/de02.asp\">Constitution of Delaware; September 10, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/pa08.asp\">Constitution of Pennsylvania &#8211; September 28, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/ma02.asp\">Constitution of Maryland; November 11, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/nc07.asp\">Constitution of North Carolina; December 18, 1776<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/ga02.asp\">Constitution of Georgia; February 5, 1777<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/ny01.asp\">Constitution of New York; April 20, 1777<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/vt01.asp\">Constitution of Vermont; July 8, 1777<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/sc02.asp\">Constitution of South Carolina; March 19, 1778<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/documents\/v1ch1s6.html\">Constitution of Massachusetts; March 2, 1780<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/18th_century\/vt02.asp\">Constitution of Vermont; July 4, 1786<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Handouts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/files\/2022\/09\/Handout-John-Dickinson.pdf\">Handout &#8211;John Dickinson<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Revolutionary era was the most creative period of constitutionalism in American history and one of the most creative in modern Western history.\u00a0 During the five or six decades between the early 1760s and the early nineteenth century, Americans debated &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/syllabus\/revolutionary-thinking\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-229","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/229\/revisions\/734"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-211constitution\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}