When reading Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution, there is a constant burning question that fails to be answered simply through reading. The title of the book itself is misleading in the commonly held historical sense in that the American Revolution lasted long past the Battle of Yorktown, Treaty of Paris or the ratification of the Constitution. Wood’s study instead extends into the 19th century in an effort to prove his largest point—that the fruits of the American Revolution were enjoyed most by the common man. And while this is a difficult point to contest, his point that the revolution was not about class is startling to any scholar in a post-Marx world. To understand this requires an extended explanation that even 21st
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Very simply put, Wood attempts to explain the depth and breadth of the actions of the Founding Fathers in a world before industrialization and Marxism. He, unlike others, is willing to acknowledge that the true radicalism was found in an experiment that was bound to lead in a decline of the aristocracy and the elevation of the common man. Men like George Washington, known for his dancing and horsemanship, were willing to renounce what gave them status—the fact that they were British—in order to prop up what would eventually become the United States of America. This principle of republicanism helped demonstrate, even to stubborn citizens of Massachusetts, that a government could come into being through, rather than despite, the consent of the governed. Gordon Wood was able to make sweeping, big-picture claims in his book, but at times fell victim to smaller, local narratives that disputed his thesis. Wood also did not take into account the impact that the radicalism of the American Revolution had on women and blacks, and how such radicalism potentially delayed the adoption of meritocracy in regards to these groups. Despite this, The Radicalism of the American Revolution remains a great work and worthy of deeper
Very simply put, Wood attempts to explain the depth and breadth of the actions of the Founding Fathers in a world before industrialization and Marxism. He, unlike others, is willing to acknowledge that the true radicalism was found in an experiment that was bound to lead in a decline of the aristocracy and the elevation of the common man. Men like George Washington, known for his dancing and horsemanship, were willing to renounce what gave them status—the fact that they were British—in order to prop up what would eventually become the United States of America. This principle of republicanism helped demonstrate, even to stubborn citizens of Massachusetts, that a government could come into being through, rather than despite, the consent of the governed. Gordon Wood was able to make sweeping, big-picture claims in his book, but at times fell victim to smaller, local narratives that disputed his thesis. Wood also did not take into account the impact that the radicalism of the American Revolution had on women and blacks, and how such radicalism potentially delayed the adoption of meritocracy in regards to these groups. Despite this, The Radicalism of the American Revolution remains a great work and worthy of deeper