American Honor : The Creation of the Nation's Ideals During the Revolutionary Era

The American Revolution was not only a revolution for liberty and freedom, it was also a revolution of ethics, reshaping what colonial Americans understood as "honor" and "virtue." As Craig Bruce Smith demonstrates, these concepts were crucial aspects of Revolutionary Americans' ideological break from Europe and shared by all ranks of society. Focusing his study primarily on prominent Americans who came of age before and during the Revolution--notably John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington--Smith shows how a colonial ethical transformation caused and became inseparable from the American Revolution, creating an ethical ideology that still remains. By also interweaving individuals and groups that have historically been excluded from the discussion of honor--such as female thinkers, women patriots, slaves, and free African Americans--Smith makes a broad and significant argument about how the Revolutionary era witnessed a fundamental shift in ethical ideas. This thoughtful work sheds new light on a forgotten cause of the Revolution and on the ideological foundation of the United States. Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: What Are Honor, Virtue, and Ethics and How Did They Influence the American Revolution? 14 Chapter One. The Old World Meets the New: Colonial Ethical Ideals before the Revolution 35 Chapter Two. A Shared Identity: Colonial Colleges and the Shaping of Pre-Revolutionary Thought 60 Chapter Three. A Matter of Honor and a Test of Virtue: Riots, Boycotts, and Resistance during the Coming of the Revolution 78 Chapter Four. Maintaining Moral Superiority: How Ethics Defined the Early War Years 111 Chapter Five. From Tension to Victory: Overcoming Civilian and Martial Differences on Honor and Virtue during the Later War Years 140 Chapter Six. Expanding Ethics: The Democratization of Honor and Virtue in the New Republic 180 Chapter Seven. The Counterrevolution in American Ethics: Reinterpretations of the Next Generations 225 Epilogue: March 16, 1824 254 Notes 260 Bibliography 318 Index 372 A 372 B 372 C 373 D 374 E 374 F 375 G 375 H 375 I 376 J 376 K 376 L 377 M 377 N 377 O 377 P 378 Q 378 R 378 S 378 T 379 U 379 V 379 W 379 Y 380 Z 380 " ... In the early eighteenth century, ideals of honor and virtue were salient aspects of Revolutionary Americans' ideological break from Europe and shared by all ranks of society, from the powdered-wig "founders" to college students, women, and African Americans. Focusing his study primarily on the prominent Americans who came of age before and during the Revolution--notably John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington--Smith shows how a colonial ethical transformation became inseparable from the American Revolution, creating a continuing ethical ideology that still remains"-- Provided by publisher " ... In the early eighteenth century, ideals of honor and virtue were salient aspects of Revolutionary Americans' ideological break from Europe and shared by all ranks of society, from the powdered-wig "founders" to college students, women, and African Americans. Focusing his study primarily on the prominent Americans who came of age before and during the Revolution ... notably John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington ... Smith shows how a colonial ethical transformation became inseparable from the American Revolution, creating a continuing ethical ideology that still remains" .. Focusing his study on prominent Americans who came of age before and during the Revolution - notably John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington - Craig Bruce Smith shows how a colonial ethical transformation caused and became inseparable from the American Revolution, creating an ethical ideology that still remains.