The Concept of Representation in the Age of the American Revolution (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780226708980)

"Americans did not rebel from Great Britain because they wanted a different government. They rebelled because they believed that Parliament was violating constitutional precepts. Colonial Whigs did not fight for American rights. They fought for English rights."--from the Preface

John Phillip Reid goes on to argue that it was generally the application, not the definition, of these rights that was disputed. The sole--and critical--exception concerned the right of representation. American perceptions of the responsibility of representatives to their constituents, the necessity of equal representation, and the constitutional function of consent had diverged gradually, but significantly, from British tradition. Drawing on his mastery of eighteenth-century legal thought, Reid explores the origins and shifting meanings of representation, consent, arbitrary rule, and constitution. He demonstrates that the controversy which led to the American Revolution had more to do with jurisprudential and constitutional principles than with democracy and equality. This book will interest legal historians, Constitutional scholars, and political theorists.

Author: John Phillip Reid
ISBN-10: 0226708985
ISBN-13: 9780226708980
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 10/23/1989
Pages: 260
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.31h x 6.26w x 0.92d