In 1773, Britain was the greatest power on earth, but the Seven Years War with France had doubled her national debt. To ease this burden, Britain made a fateful...

In 1776, the thirteen American colonies, refusing to pay unjust taxes, declared their independence from Britain. The resulting years of war are called the American...

Civil Disobedience discusses Thoreau's arguments for civil disobedience-the deliberate violation of laws for reasons of conscience. Thoreau's concept is based on the belief that no law should...

Common Sense examines how Americans defended the right to resist unjust laws, and how this right of resistance was transformed into a right of revolution. It examines Thomas Paine's views on...

In 1783, America emerged from a long and bitter war for Independence. The thirteen colonies were now thirteen sovereign states, bound together by the Articles of Confederation. After years of war,...

The United States Constitution established both a strong central power and protected states' rights. But to say that something is of two parts is not to say that the parts are equal. Advocates of...