Reluctant Revolutionaries
Image via Wikipedia Perhaps the most notable aspect of America ’s revolutionary period was that its chief protagonists were not particularly revolutionary. From Samuel Adams to George Washington , from Patrick Henry to Samuel Chase , the leaders of the American cause were profoundly conservative. They were loathe to indulge in any kind of radicalism that might erupt into violence—rhetorical, political, or martial. For the most part they were the faithful sons of colonial gentry. They were devoted to conventional Whig principles: the rule of law, noblesse oblige, unswerving honor, squirey superintendence, and the maintenance of corporate order. They believed in a tranquil and settled society free of the raucous upsets and tumults of agitation, activism, and unrest. It took more than the Boston Massacre , more than Lexington and Concord, more than Bunker Hill, and more than Ticonderoga to provoke the patriots to commit themselves to forceful secession. Even as late as the first week