Now an established classic, Intellectual Origins of American Radicalism was the 1st book to explore this alternative current of American political thought. Stemming back to the 17th-century English Revolution, many questioned private property, the sovereignty of the nation-state & slavery, affirming the common man's ability to govern. By the time of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine was the great exemplar of the alternative intellectual tradition. In the 19th century, the antislavery movement took hold of Paine's ideas & fashioned them into an ideology that ultimately justified civil war.
Preface
Introduction: The Right of Revolution
Truths self-evident
Certain inalienable rights
The Earth belongs to the living
Cast your whole vote
My country is the world
Conclusion: Bicameralism from Below
Index