Contributor
McDonald, Robert M. S., 1970- editor.
ImprintCharlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2021.
Descriptionxi, 280 pages ; 24 cm.
Note:Papers from a conference held in June 2013 entitled "Revolutionary Prophecies", the fourth Sons of the American Revolution Annual Conference on the American Revolution. --Preface.
Note:Raconteur, Memorialist, Founder: Benjamin Franklin Meets Himself in History / Robert A. Ferguson -- Yankee Continentalism: The Provincial Roots of John Adams's Vision for American Union, 1755-1776 / J. Patrick Mullins -- George Washington's Vision for the United States / Kenneth R. Bowling -- Agrarian Founders: Three "Rebellions" as Legitimate Opposition, 1786-1799 / Paul Douglas Newman -- The Sovereign People: Indians, Treaties, and the Subversion of the Founders' Colonialist Vision / David Andrew Nichols -- "Arraying Him against Himself": The Jefferson Presidency and the American Future through the Eyes of Alexander Hamilton / Todd Estes -- James Madison and American Nationality: The View from Virginia / Drew R. McCoy -- Mastery over Slaves, Sovereignty over Slavery: James Monroe, Virginia, and the Missouri Crisis / John Craig Hammond -- Antiquarian America: Isaiah Thomas and the New Nation's Future / Peter S. Onuf -- Afterword: The Contradictions and Paradoxes of American Future-Gazing / Joanne B. Freeman.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Note:"Collections of essays often struggle to cohere, but the thesis of "Revolutionary Prophecies" is clear. Traditionally, the term "revolution" suggested circular motion: the rise and fall of classical republics and modern dynasties followed the same inevitable pattern. The American Revolution promised to change everything, liberating a newly self-conscious and self-governing people from the thralldom of foreign despotism. As the circle became a line, the people could envision a future for their grandchildren's grandchildren, stretching across the generations to a distant horizon. The essays in "Revolutionary Prophecies" hone in on a diverse cast of characters from the Founding generation-luminaries like George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and James Monroe, but also less prominent people such as printer and antiquarian Isaiah Thomas, backcountry rebels, and American Indians. All of them, in different ways, reveal that how we understand the past and present shapes our hopes, ambitions, and anxieties about the future."-- Provided by publisher.
