ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

A vigorous and at the same time scholarly study of the events and states of mind that led up to the American Revolution, on both sides of the water. Economic and political backgrounds, the quest for colonial revenue, the ill-advised restrictions on markets, the forcing into consciousness opposing ideologies -- and then, too late, futile attempts to stem the tide. Phases of the propaganda front familiar today were in in operation then, -- the use of internal jealousies and frictional instruments of division, artificially manufactured hates. The final impetus to independence came through war aims clarified by Tom Paine and Jefferson, though to the end, conservatives and Tories stemmed the democractic tide. That Revolution has not yet ended.