Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Popular Sources of Political Authority: Documents on the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780

Mary Flug Handlin

0/5 ( ratings)

Rarely is it possible to hear the voice of the people in a revolution except as it filters through the writings of articulate individuals who may not really be representative. But on several occasions during the effort to draft a constitution for Massachusetts after 1776, the citizens of the Commonwealth were asked to convene in their 300 town meetings to debate and convey to the legislators their political theories, needs, and aspirations. This book presents the transcribed debates and the replies returned to Boston which constitute a unique body of material documenting the political thought of the ordinary citizen.

In an important, extended introduction, the editors, interpreting the American Revolution and its sustaining political framework in light of this material, analyze the forces that were singular and those that were universal in the shaping of American democracy. Comparisons are made with popular uprisings in other parts of the world and at other times, and the whole is integrated into a general discussion of the nature of revolution and its relationship to constitutional authority.

Language: English

Pages: 978

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Belknap Press

Release: January 01, 1966

ISBN: 0674690001

ISBN 13: 9780674690004

The Popular Sources of Political Authority: Documents on the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780

Mary Flug Handlin

0/5 ( ratings)

Rarely is it possible to hear the voice of the people in a revolution except as it filters through the writings of articulate individuals who may not really be representative. But on several occasions during the effort to draft a constitution for Massachusetts after 1776, the citizens of the Commonwealth were asked to convene in their 300 town meetings to debate and convey to the legislators their political theories, needs, and aspirations. This book presents the transcribed debates and the replies returned to Boston which constitute a unique body of material documenting the political thought of the ordinary citizen.

In an important, extended introduction, the editors, interpreting the American Revolution and its sustaining political framework in light of this material, analyze the forces that were singular and those that were universal in the shaping of American democracy. Comparisons are made with popular uprisings in other parts of the world and at other times, and the whole is integrated into a general discussion of the nature of revolution and its relationship to constitutional authority.

Language: English

Pages: 978

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Belknap Press

Release: January 01, 1966

ISBN: 0674690001

ISBN 13: 9780674690004

More books from Mary Flug Handlin

Commonwealth: A Study of the Role of Government in the American Economy: Massachusetts, 1774-1861

The Dimensions of Liberty

Rate this book!

Write a review?