Origins of the American Revolution

by John Chester Miller

Origins of the American Revolution attempts to explain why the American colonists rose in rebellion against a government whose authority, less than fifteen years before the Declaration of Independence, they had helped to extend over a large part of the North American continent.

Genres: History, American History, American Revolution, Nonfiction

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

A specialist in the early history of the United States, John Chester Miller taught at Bryn Mawr from 1940 until 1950, and at Stanford University from 1950 until 1973, where he was the inaugural holder of the Edgar E. Robinson Professorship in United States History.

Reviews

[Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Chester Miller wrote this work in 1943. It's a history of the American colonies in the ten years prior to 1776, and it was dedicated to the Harvard fellows. So this book had all the makings of a very boring experience. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. This book was very well written, with a vivid narrative and well stocked with quotes from period newspapers and letters. At times it is humorous, at other times it is profound. The best part of this book is that Miller really delved into the mentality of the American colonists as well as the politicians in the Mother Country. Miller examines all of the important events of 1765 to 1776, from the Sugar Act to the Stamp Act to the Deplorable Acts to the Boston Tea Party. He examines the interactions between the colonists and the English officials, and between the various communities within the colonies. The reader is left with an excellent understanding of the origins of the Revolution and why a population of English subjects would develop such an anger toward their own nation that they would declare independence from their own King and Parliament.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in US history and particularly the colonial/Revolutionary War period.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with care. The oldest book in my collection, John C. Miller’s Origins of the American Revolution was published in 1943, as the US was in the midst of the kind European conflict that it had sought to avoid nearly 200 years before. Not written with modern historical storytelling and entertainment goals in mind, this book was pretty dry at times, but nevertheless held my attention throughout. It’s a college history class without the price tag and the grade. I learned a ton.

Filled with names of signers of the Declaration of Independence—Hancock, Adams, Gerry, Morris, Franklin, Otis, Lee, and Jefferson among them—Miller’s work is a who’s-who of prerevolutionary America. Beginning in the early 1760s not long after George III took the throne, Origins crawls through a decade and a half of frustrations on both sides of the Atlantic. Miller reveals the underestimations, biases, mistakes, and inner turmoil within both mother country and her children. Parliament is the aggressor through most of the book, and the King is barely mentioned until Thomas Paine drags him into the light. Whigs and Tories butt heads on every page, demonstrating how the United States came to life through the differing ideologies of colonies that were far from united—in some cases right up to the eve of independence.

From grade school most of us identify the build-up to the American Revolution with three points: The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and “No Taxation without Representation.” Origins of the American Revolution greatly expands our view outside of Boston, and reaches to the depths beneath the superficial phrase to allow for a genuine understanding of the reasons for rebellion.

[Jacqui N · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough and readable description of the events which led to the American colonies declaring independence from the "mother country," beginning with the accession of George III and the end of the French and Indian War, to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776'. The author's wry humor was prevalent all throughout the book and made for an entertaining read. Brilliant.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though dated, this is a serviceable introduction to the question of the causes of the revolt of the American colonies against the British crown.

[Ellis Knox]

This is the hardbound 1943 edition