Patrick Henry and the Virginia Conference essays

Patrick Henry and the Virginia Conference essays The American Revolution, as written by historian Gordon Wood was as radical and as revolutionary as any in history. Twenty- first century definitions of the word radical are: thoroughgoing or extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms; favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms, radical ideas and ideologies and forming a basis or foundation. These definitions all apply to the American Revolution by todays standards. When you take a step back and envision the colonists and especially the signers of the Declaration of Independence consider their circumstances. The word radical becomes even more significant and appropriate. In the book, From Resistance to Revolution, historian Pauline Maier gives some insight into the term radical. To understand the emergent revolutionary movement, this study concentrates upon men in the vanguard of opposition to Britain, whom I have chosen to call radicals. The term has pitfalls. The word itself is an a nachronism, since it was first applied to political groups only in the nineteenth century. (Observers in the 1760s and 1770s sometimes used the word violent much as we use radical, without necessarily implying the commission of acts of violence in the modern sense, which has itself encouraged historical confusion.) Radical is, nonetheless, a legitimate and in fact technically exact word for describing men who most thoroughly criticized British governing practices, seeking always a return to what they considered traditional principles of British rule. (Maier, xviii) Prior to tensions mounting with the British Parliament and King, American Colonists were immersed in a society with a class structure and a clear hierarchy with the King at the top. Initially Colonists were very happy to be British subjects but that sentiment dissipated as time progressed and taxes, proc...