Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman by Caroline Robbins

Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman by Caroline Robbins

In her Introduction to The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman, Caroline Robbins wrote that the Commonwealthmen were "a gifted and active minority of the population of the British Isles, who kept alive, during an age of extraordinary complacency and legislative inactivity, a demand for increased liberty of conscience.". Their essays, arguments, pamphlets, and histories -- a continual flow from the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth -- were hugely popular in America. The themes presented were revolutionary: separation of powers, natural rights, rotation in office, religious freedom, a supreme court, and resistance to tyranny. They achieved very little political success, but the documents of later generations are full of ideas kept alive by the Commonwealthmen in difficult times. In The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman, Robbins adeptly presents a history of these men, whose writings advocated the principles of liberty in an era when change was considered perilous.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780865974272
ISBN 10	0865974276
Title	Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman
Author	Caroline Robbins
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Liberty Fund Inc
Year published	2004-03-01
Number of pages	465
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.