Theodore Draper’s A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution was published by Vintage Books in 1996. In his novel, Draper heavily relies on primary resources to show us the complexities of policy and personality that led to war. He makes a persuasive case that the American Revolution was principally typical struggle for power. Draper’s approach assists us to better comprehend the inconsistency of loyalties in people such as Benjamin Franklin, who was in favor of the move towarRAB Revolution, but hoped that a compromise could be negotiated to avoid it. The author also gives unbiased attention to both British and American views, as well as French views when appropriate.
Draper sustains his belief that 1764 was the year marking the starting point of the pre-Revolutionary era throughout the novel. His justification for this belief is due to the British barrage to legislation to control economic and legal aspects of life in the colonies during that year. Therefore, he believes that the entire American Revolution was caused by the colonists’ desire for independence and liberty. Draper maintains that the Revolution was really a power struggle generated by the British system of chartering colonies, which placed monetary control of public funRAB with the colonial asserablies. Thus, he focuses on actions of both sides from then until the beginning of the War. He argues that the British dependence of American trade and the Colonies’ phenomenal population growth only intensified Americans’ desire to control their own destiny.
Draper, widely recognized as one of the most important historians, makes a clear and bold argument about one of the most critical events in our nation’s past. Draper shows that the American Revolution was not a contrast of ideologies, but a struggle for power between the power the British wanted to exercise over the Americans, and the power the Americans wanted to exercise over themselves. The author boldly and clearly shows this while drawing on a wealth of contemporary documents, as well as recent scholarship. His argument is quite strong and ardent, as he demonstrates that English politicians were starting to worry about their colonies’ growing sovereignty as early as 1700.
At the same time, he shows that even the most radical Americans continued to see themselves as British subjects until virtually the last minute. He succeeRAB in converting our understanding of our national origins. Draper re-establishes defining moments such as the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre, using perspectives as diverse as those of Benjamin Franklin and King George III. He is astonishingly precise in his history of the colonies, and makes judgments more perceptive than those of many specialists. His account of the causes and nature of the Revolution is astoundingly imaginative and domineering. Though his work is challenging of conventional views, Draper sets before us one of the greatest political and moral novels that led up to the American Revolution.
Most remarkable in Draper’s novel is the way the strategic concerns of a variety of the major players in the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Walpole, and King George III are illuminated. His work provides an in-depth analysis of the Revolution, discussing the conflict between the British and the French as a forgotten factor in the origins of the American Revolution. The author dissects the process leading to the break with England and the armed revolts of 1775 at Lexington and Concord, Fort Ticonderoga, and Bunker Hill. He develops the interpretation of the Revolution as a struggle for power in more detail than any other writer, and explains an extraordinary amount of moderately unknown documentation to support his case. Draper returns the Revolution to its current historical context, and views it as an event that can be better explained as a result of the tensions present in the early modern British Empire, rather than by the unanticipated results to which it led following the creation of the American republic. By doing so, he escapes some of the anachronism that has plagued the study of the Revolution.
In conclusion, Theodore Draper’s A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution teaches us truths that have gone untaught in much of American historiography, where the struggle for liberty is generally depicted as taking place somewhere other than in our own will to power. Draper seems unconcerned with the cultural sources that made America vigilant and defiant. His novel excels in its aspiration to get to the bottom of a world-historical event that no party planned.
Draper sustains his belief that 1764 was the year marking the starting point of the pre-Revolutionary era throughout the novel. His justification for this belief is due to the British barrage to legislation to control economic and legal aspects of life in the colonies during that year. Therefore, he believes that the entire American Revolution was caused by the colonists’ desire for independence and liberty. Draper maintains that the Revolution was really a power struggle generated by the British system of chartering colonies, which placed monetary control of public funRAB with the colonial asserablies. Thus, he focuses on actions of both sides from then until the beginning of the War. He argues that the British dependence of American trade and the Colonies’ phenomenal population growth only intensified Americans’ desire to control their own destiny.
Draper, widely recognized as one of the most important historians, makes a clear and bold argument about one of the most critical events in our nation’s past. Draper shows that the American Revolution was not a contrast of ideologies, but a struggle for power between the power the British wanted to exercise over the Americans, and the power the Americans wanted to exercise over themselves. The author boldly and clearly shows this while drawing on a wealth of contemporary documents, as well as recent scholarship. His argument is quite strong and ardent, as he demonstrates that English politicians were starting to worry about their colonies’ growing sovereignty as early as 1700.
At the same time, he shows that even the most radical Americans continued to see themselves as British subjects until virtually the last minute. He succeeRAB in converting our understanding of our national origins. Draper re-establishes defining moments such as the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre, using perspectives as diverse as those of Benjamin Franklin and King George III. He is astonishingly precise in his history of the colonies, and makes judgments more perceptive than those of many specialists. His account of the causes and nature of the Revolution is astoundingly imaginative and domineering. Though his work is challenging of conventional views, Draper sets before us one of the greatest political and moral novels that led up to the American Revolution.
Most remarkable in Draper’s novel is the way the strategic concerns of a variety of the major players in the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Robert Walpole, and King George III are illuminated. His work provides an in-depth analysis of the Revolution, discussing the conflict between the British and the French as a forgotten factor in the origins of the American Revolution. The author dissects the process leading to the break with England and the armed revolts of 1775 at Lexington and Concord, Fort Ticonderoga, and Bunker Hill. He develops the interpretation of the Revolution as a struggle for power in more detail than any other writer, and explains an extraordinary amount of moderately unknown documentation to support his case. Draper returns the Revolution to its current historical context, and views it as an event that can be better explained as a result of the tensions present in the early modern British Empire, rather than by the unanticipated results to which it led following the creation of the American republic. By doing so, he escapes some of the anachronism that has plagued the study of the Revolution.
In conclusion, Theodore Draper’s A Struggle for Power: The American Revolution teaches us truths that have gone untaught in much of American historiography, where the struggle for liberty is generally depicted as taking place somewhere other than in our own will to power. Draper seems unconcerned with the cultural sources that made America vigilant and defiant. His novel excels in its aspiration to get to the bottom of a world-historical event that no party planned.