American History
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The Lamp of Experience
by Trevor Colbourn
In a landmark work, a leading scholar of the eighteenth century examines the ways in which an understanding of the nature of history influenced the thinking of the founding fathers. As Jack P. Greene has observed, “[The Whig] conception saw the past as a continual struggle between liberty and virtue on one hand and arbitrary power and corruption on the…
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Liberty and American Experience in the Eighteenth Century
by David Womersley
Liberty and American Experience in the Eighteenth Century presents ten new essays on central themes of the American Founding period by some of today’s preeminent scholars of American history. The writers explore various aspects of the zeitgeist, among them Burke’s theories on property rights and government, the relations between religious and legal understandings of liberty, the significance of Protestant beliefs…
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Liberty and Order
by Lance Banning
Liberty and Order is an ambitious anthology of primary source writings: letters, circulars, debate transcriptions, House proceedings, and newspaper articles that document the years during which America’s Founding generation divided over the sort of country the United States was to become. With this significant collection, the reader receives a deeper understanding of the complex issues, struggles, and personalities that made…
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The Life of George Washington
by John Marshall
Used throughout the first half of the nineteenth century in schools and colleges, John Marshall’s own abridgment of his monumental five-volume biography of George Washington is now available in a Liberty Fund edition that once again brings the spirit of George Washington alive in America’s classrooms. Within eight years of the death of George Washington in 1799, John Marshall, who…
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The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution, Compared with the Origin and Principles of the French Revolution
by Friedrich Gentz
The Origin and Principles of the American Revolution is perhaps one of the most important books written on the American Revolution by a European author. It is an original study of the subject by a conservative, objective German observer who acknowledges the legitimacy of the American Revolution, but also asserts at the same time that it was not a revolution…
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Origin of the American Revolution: 1759–1766
by Bernhard Knollenberg
Origin of the American Revolution is the first of Bernhard Knollenberg’s two-part history concerning the basis of the conflict between England and its North American colonies from 1759 to 1766. This compact narrative history, written more than a generation ago, has been widely unavailable, until now. Liberty Fund has made this rich historical treasure available once again to an eager…
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The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates of 1793–1794
by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison
The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates of 1793–1794 matched Hamilton and Madison in the first chapter of an enduring discussion about the proper roles of executive and legislative branches in the conduct of American foreign policy. Ignited by President Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation of 1793, which annulled the eleventh article of America’s treaty with France of 1778, the debate addressed whether Washington had the…
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Political Sermons of the American Founding Era: 1730–1805
by Ellis Sandoz
The early political culture of the American republic was so deeply influenced by the religious consciousness of the New England preachers that it was often through the political sermon that the political rhetoric of the period was formed, refined, and transmitted. Political sermons such as the fifty-five collected in this work are unique to America, in both kind and significance.
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The Political Writings of William Penn
by William Penn
William Penn (1644–1718) played a crucial role in the articulation of religious liberty as a philosophical and political value during the second half of the seventeenth century and as a core element of the classical liberal tradition in general. Penn was not only one of the most vocal spokesmen for liberty of conscience in Restoration England, but he also oversaw…
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The Revolutionary Writings of Alexander Hamilton
by Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton, trusted military aide and secretary to General George Washington, wrote to persuade. He had the ability to clarify the complex issues of his time without oversimplifying them. From the basic core values established in his earlier writings to the more assertive vision of government in his mature work, we see how Hamilton’s thought responded to the emerging nation…
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The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams
by John Adams
The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams presents the principal shorter writings in which Adams addresses the prospect of revolution and the form of government proper to the new United States. This collection illustrates that it was Adams who, before the Revolution, wrote some of the most important documents on the nature of the British Constitution and the meaning of rights,…
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The Sacred Rights of Conscience
by Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall
The Sacred Rights of Conscience contains original documents from both public and private papers, such as constitutions, statutes, legislative resolutions, speeches, sermons, newspapers, letters, and diaries. These documents provide a vivid reminder that religion was a dynamic factor in shaping American social, legal, and political culture and that there has been a struggle since the inception of the Republic to…
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