1774 by Mary Beth Norton

1774 by Mary Beth Norton

From one of our most acclaimed and original colonial historians, a groundbreaking book tracing the critical long year of 1774 and the revolutionary change that took place from the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

A WAL STRET JOURNAL BEST BOK OF THE YEAR

In this masterly work of history, the culmination of more than four decades of research and thought, Mary Beth Norton looks at the sixteen months leading up to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775. This was the critical, and often overlooked, period when colonists traditionally loyal to King George I began their discordant discussions that led them to their acceptance of the inevitability of war against the British Empire. Drawing extensively on pamphlets, newspapers, and personal correspondence, Norton reconstructs colonial political discourse as it took place throughout 1774. Late in the year, conservatives mounted a vigorous campaign criticizing the First Continental Congress. But by then it was too late. In early 1775, colonial governors informed officials in London that they were unable to thwart the increasing power of local committees and their allied provincial congresses. Although the Declaration of Independence would not be formally adopted until July 1776, Americans had in effect declared independence even before the outbreak of war in April 1775 by obeying the decrees of the provincial governments they had elected rather than colonial officials appointed by the king. Norton captures the tension and drama of this pivotal year and foundational moment in American history and brings it to life as no other historian has done before.

MARY BETH NORTON is the author of five books and coeditor of several others. Her textbook, A People and a Nation, a survey of U.S. history written with five other authors, has been published in ten editions and has sold more than 500,000 copies. Norton is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emerita of American History at Cornell University. She lives in Ithaca, New York.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780385353366
ISBN 10	0385353367
Title	1774
Author	Mary Beth Norton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2020-02-11
Number of pages	528
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.