Bernard Bailyn was een vooraanstaand Amerikaans historicus wiens werk zich concentreerde op de koloniale en revolutionaire tijdperken van de Amerikaanse geschiedenis. Zijn uitgebreide wetenschappelijke werk en diepgaande begrip van de politieke en sociale krachten die het vroege Amerika vormden, leverden fundamentele inzichten op in deze cruciale periode. Bailyn analyseerde de complexe intellectuele stromingen en institutionele ontwikkelingen die leidden tot de vorming van de Verenigde Staten. Zijn schrijven wordt gewaardeerd om zijn wetenschappelijke nauwkeurigheid en zijn vermogen om het verleden voor hedendaagse lezers tot leven te brengen.
The book delves into the evolution of merchant families in America, highlighting their quest for social recognition amid their growing success in trade, fishing, and lumbering. It examines how this emerging social group gained influence and altered the dynamics of American society, showcasing the interplay between economic achievement and social status during a pivotal time in history.
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment," as a Postscript. Here he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution. This detailed study of the persistence of the nation's ideological origins adds a new dimension to the book and projects its meaning forward into vital current concerns.
Bernard Bailyn's career has significantly transformed the understanding of early American history through his passionate and rigorous scholarship. He explores the ideologies behind the American Revolution and provides a comprehensive account of America's demographic evolution. Additionally, Bailyn has played a pivotal role in developing the field of Atlantic history, all conveyed in his precise and elegant writing style. His work emphasizes both the unique details of the past and their broader implications.
The Charles K. Colver Lectures, Brown University 1965."An astonishing range of reading in contemporary tracts and modern authorities is manifest, and many aspects of British and colonial affairs are illuminated. As a political analysis this very important contribution will be hard to refute...."—Frederick B. Tolles, Political Science Quarterly"He produces historical analysis which is as revealing to the political scientist or sociologist as to the historian, of the significance of social and cultural forces on political changes in eighteenth-century America."—John D. Lees, Cambridge University Press"...these well-argued essays represent the first sustained and systematic attempt to provide a comprehensive and integrated analysis of all elements of American political life during the late colonial period...the author has once again put all students concerned with colonial America heavily in his intellectual debt."—Jack P. Greene, The New York Historical Society Quarterly"...Mr. Bailyn brings to his effort a splendid gift for pertinent curiosity. What he has found, and what patterns he has made of his findings, light our way through his longitudes and latitudes of scholarly precision."—Charles Poore, The New York Times
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize A compelling, fresh account of the first great transit of people from Britain, Europe, and Africa to British North America, their involvements with each other, and their struggles with the indigenous peoples of the eastern seaboard. The immigrants were a mixed multitude. They came from England, the Netherlands, the German and Italian states, France, Africa, Sweden, and Finland, and they moved to the western hemisphere for different reasons, from different social backgrounds and cultures. They represented a spectrum of religious attachments. In the early years, their stories are not mainly of triumph but of confusion, failure, violence, and the loss of civility as they sought to normalize situations and recapture lost worlds. It was a thoroughly brutal encounter—not only between the Europeans and native peoples and between Europeans and Africans, but among Europeans themselves, as they sought to control and prosper in the new configurations of life that were emerging around them.
The book presents five insightful essays that explore the ideas and global influence of the Founding Fathers, crafted by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bernard Bailyn. Drawing from a lifetime of research, Bailyn delves into the origins and significance of their creative contributions, providing a comprehensive understanding of their intellectual legacy.
Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Bernard Bailyn brings us a book that combines portraits of American revolutionaries with a deft exploration of the ideas that moved them and still shape our society today.In this elegant collection of essays, he combines lively portraits of participants in the American Revolution with deft explorations of the ideas that moved them, the circumstances that shaped them, and their goals, fears, and aspirations. Bailyn offers character studies of John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; Thomas Paine; the Tory Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who was shocked to find himself the most hated man in America; an ordinary shopkeeper who kept a vivid record of his beliefs; and three preachers whose careers show the various connections between religion and revolution. In addition, there are essays that explore the global significance of 1776, the relation of ideas to politics, the central themes of the Revolution, and the core issues in the great debate on the ratification of the Constitution.
The vast contribution of African civilization to all regions of the West, the westward migration of Europeans, pan-Atlantic commerce and its role in developing economies, racial and ethnic relations, the spread of Enlightenment ideas - all are Atlantic phenomena.
The brilliance of a master historian shines through this personal account of a lifetime's work.