Clinton Lawrence Rossiter III was an award-winning American historian and political scientist who taught at Cornell University from 1947 until his death in 1970.
"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effectd before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and herats of the people. . . . . This radical change in the principals, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution." John Adams, 1818
Taking Adams' quote as his thesis, Rossiter reviews the growth of American independence prior to the first shot being fired.
I read and reviewed the paperback "The First American Revolution," part one of Rossiter's greater work. It seemed wasteful to create a separate entry for a book itself a bit of history.