Episode
BFW Revisited: The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- Podcast
- Ben Franklin's World
- Published
- Sep 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3097
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/152
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Summary
What caused the American Revolution? Taxation without representation? Colonies that had outgrown their dependence on the British Empire? Or something harder to see: a quarrel about power itself and about what a government may rightly do to the people it governs? In 1967, Bernard Bailyn published The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution , a book he built out of more than 400 pamphlets, and one historians have been arguing with ever since. In this revisited conversation from Episode 152, Professor Bailyn explains why he never accepted a purely economic explanation for the Revolution, where the revolutionaries' ideas actually came from, and why colonists rationally concluded that the British government was concealing a conspiracy against their liberties. Bernard Bailyn’s Wikipedia Page | Book | Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/152 RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES 🎧 Episode 294: 1774: The Long Year of American Revolution 🎧 Episode 311: Religion and the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 307: History and the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 325: Everyday People of the American Revolution 🎧 Episode 407: Patrick Henry 🎧 Episode 434: The Frank Borthers: Freeborn Black Soldiers in the American Revolution SUPPORT OUR WORK 🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World REQUEST A TOPIC 📨 Topic Request Form 📫 [email protected] WHEN YOU'RE READY 🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩💻 Join the BFW Listener Community 🌍 Join the History Explorers Club TAKE THE QUIZ 🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes) 👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz LISTEN 🎧 🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music 🛜 Pandora CONNECT 🦋 Liz on Bluesky 👩💻 Liz on LinkedIn 🛜 Liz’s Website SAY THANKS 💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts 💚 Leave a rating on Spotify * Book links are affiliate links.…