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David Ramsay’s History of the American Revolution appeared in 1789 during an enthusiastic celebration of nationhood. It is the first American national history written by an American revolutionary and printed in America. Ramsay… more

Douglass’s third and last autobiography of his life as a slave, runaway, and then campaigner for the abolition of slavery. This edition is interesting because of the introduction by one of Britain’s leading classical liberal… more

A one volume abridgement of the first major biography of Washington by John Marshall who became the third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. An influential conservative interpretation. The volume also contains 5 of the more… more

Beaumont and Tocqueville jointly collected information about American slavery on their 1834 trip, but Beaumont was the one to publish the book on slavery. The first part is in the form of a novel, rather sentimental at times but full… more

A legalistic defense of the Loyalist opposition to the right of the American colonies to seek independence from Britain. This work was the subject of John Adam’s lengthy rebuttal in “Novanglus”.

Although this is numbered number 1 there were only three parts to this series (1, 2, and 6) in which Spooner argues that the individual is not bound to obey the American constitution because it justified slavery and otherwise… more

Although this is numbered number 2 there were only three parts to this series (1, 2, and 6) in which Spooner argues that the individual is not bound to obey the American constitution because it justified slavery and otherwise… more

A defence of the American Revolution by one of its key supporters in Britain, along with a letter by Turgot and a short essay by Mathon de la Cour (also known as Fortuné Ricard).

Price was both a supporter of the American desire for political independence and a sharp critic of the expences of the British empire.

The Pacificus–Helvidius Debates of 1793–1794 matched Hamilton and Madison in the first chapter of an enduring discussion about the proper roles of the executive and legislative branches in the conduct of American foreign policy. The… more

This volume contains the principal shorter writings in which Adams addresses the prospect of revolution and the form of government proper to the new United States. There are pieces on the nature of the British Constitution and the… more

This is a comprehensive collection of Hamilton’s early writings, from the period before and during the Revolutionary War, and includes The Continentalist, lettters by Publius, and Remarks on the Quebec Bill.

Otis wrote a couple of pamphlets in the early phase of the American Revolution which galvanized and radicalized the colonists’ opposition to the British Empire. In The Rights of the British Colonies Otis goes from an objection to a… more

Observations by a French economist of his trip to the United States. Like Tocqueville, Chevalier was sent by the French government in 1834 to inspect American institutions - Tocqueville was sent to inspect American prisons, Chevalier… more

The first of a two part series on Spooner’s theory that the institution of slavery was not supported by the ideas behind the constitution and was thus “unconstitutional.”

The second of a two part series on Spooner’s theory that the institution of slavery was not supported by the ideas behind the constitution and was thus “unconstitutional.”

These writings address such issues as states’ rights and nullification, slavery, the growth of the Federal judicial power, and Calhoun’s doctrine of the “concurrent majority.” This selection presents twelve notable speeches, letters,… more