Pauline Maier

From Resistance to Revolution

"An intellectual interpretation of the American revolution that raises it to a new height of comprehensiveness and significance. A superbly detailed account of the ideological escalation . . . that brought Americans to revolution." —Gordon S. Wood, New York Times Book Review

In this classic account of the American revolution, Pauline Maier traces the step-by-step process through which the extra-legal institutions of the colonial resistance movement assumed authority from the British. She follows the American Whigs as they moved by stages from the organized resistance of the Stamp Act crisis of 1765 through the non-importation associations of the late 1760s to the collapse of royal government after 1773, the implication of the king in a conspiracy against American liberties, and the consequent Declaration of Independence. Professor Maier's great achievement is to explain how Americans came to contemplate and establish their independence, guided by principle, reason, and experience.

"Written gracefully and clearly, From Resistance to Revolution fills a significant need for professional historians and general readers alike. Its fresh interpretation of American radicals in the crucible of revolution, based on substantial research and subtle reasoning, transcends its immediate subject and illuminates the meaning of radicalism, violence, and rebellion in American history." —Michael Kammen