This collection of documents is a sort of greatest hits of the era of the American Revolution, according to yours truly. It is not intended to be comprehensive; the selections are sometimes idiosyncratic. While some documents were chosen due to their intrinsic historical significance, my main purpose is to offer an accessible guide to key themes in American constitutional and diplomatic thought.
A. Eighteenth Century Background
- Bolingbroke: On the Balance of Power
- Vattel: Rights and Duties of Nations
- Smith: War and the National Debt
B. Imperial Crisis
- Franklin: Narrative of the Late Massacres
- Franklin: Rules by Which A Great Empire May be Reduced to a Small One
- Tucker: On Giving Up the Empire
- Burke: Sources of American Freedom
- Burke: On The Disutility of Force
- Congress: The Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
- Ferguson: The Case for War
- Smith: Illusions of Empire
- Smith: Four Ways to End the War
C. American Revolution
D. Articles of Confederation
E. Foundations of Diplomacy
F. Federal Convention
- Madison: Against Religious Assessments
- Madison: Vices of the Confederation
- Madison: Of Rivalry Among the Great
- Madison: Retrospective on the Constitution
G. Ratification Debates
- Hamilton: On the Causes of War
- Hamilton: From League to Government
- Madison: What is a Republic?
- Madison: The Constitution Neither Federal Nor National, But a Compound of Both
- Madison: On Standing Armies
- Madison: State Governments to Hold Balance of Power Under New Constitution
- Madison: If Men Were Angels
- Madison: Pay Attention to What Other Nations Think
H. Federalist Era
- Hamilton: Against "Free Trade"
- Madison: Universal Peace
- The Executive in Foreign Policy: Hamilton versus Madison
- Madison: The Danger of Locating the War Power in the Executive
- Hamilton: On Morality and Interest in Foreign Policy
- Hamilton: On Promoting Liberty Abroad
- Washington: Union and Independence
