ABSTRACT
The exigencies of rebellion caused the Americans, though acting in the name of the constitution, to rethink its principles and devise new theories of politics and government. The flower of a rich and dark past, the constitution was admired by Montesquieu and Burke and all those who rooted their rights in privilege, their freedom in restraints–including the English living in America, who believed in it no less than the English living in England. The rebellion had instilled in the Americans a loathing–not just of the English, but of the ideas of the English constitution. Having once been its victim, they deeply distrusted power. But this distrust caused them trouble, as in the 1780s the Americans discovered that a people, even as virtuous as themselves, needed strong and stable government. As John Adams said, there had occurred a “radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”
