The Transforming Hand of Revolution

Book excerpt: The observations made by J. Franklin Jameson in his pathbreaking study initiated a challenging and enormously productive scholarly debate regarding the nature of the Revolutionary era in American history. For more than six decades questions involving the social implications of the struggle for independence have continued to intrigue historians, and their explorations of the Revolutionary experience from the perspective Jameson suggested have produced a rich and varied literature. The essays featured in this volume demonstrate the ongoing vitality and importance of contemporary scholarship on the social character of the American Revolution.