El. knyga: Revolutionary Prophecies: The Founders and America's Future

"Collections of essays often struggle to cohere, but the thesis of "Revolutionary Prophecies" is clear. Traditionally, the term "revolution" suggested circular motion: the rise and fall of classical republics and modern dynasties followed the same inevitable pattern. The American Revolution promised to change everything, liberating a newly self-conscious and self-governing people from the thralldom of foreign despotism. As the circle became a line, the people could envision a future for their grandchildren's grandchildren, stretching across the generations to a distant horizon. The essays in "Revolutionary Prophecies" hone in on a diverse cast of characters from the Founding generation-luminaries like George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and James Monroe, but also less prominent people such as printer and antiquarian Isaiah Thomas, backcountry rebels, and American Indians. All of them, in different ways, reveal that how we understand the past and present shapes our hopes, ambitions, and anxieties about the future"--

The America of the early republic was built on an experiment, a hopeful prophecy that would only be fulfilled if an enlightened people could find its way through its past and into a future. Americans recognized that its promises would only be fully redeemed at a future date. In Revolutionary Prophecies, renowned historians Robert M. S. McDonald and Peter S. Onuf summon a diverse cast of characters from the founding generation—all of whom, in different ways, reveal how their understanding of the past and present shaped hopes, ambitions, and anxieties for or about the future.

The essays in this wide-ranging volume explore the historical consciousness of Americans caught up in the Revolution and its aftermath. By focusing on how various individuals and groups envisioned their future, the contributors show that revolutionary Americans knew they were making choices that would redirect the "course of human events." Looking at prominent leaders such as Washington, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, and Monroe, as well as more common people, from backcountry rebels and American Indians to printer Isaiah Thomas, the authors illuminate the range and complexity of the ways in which men and women of the founding generation imagined their future—and made our history.