Table of Contents

Introduction: re-examining the roots of Anglo-American political thought; Part I. The Divine Right Challenge to Natural Liberty: 1. The attack on the Catholic natural law; 2. Calvinism and parliamentary resistance theory; 3. The problem of Grotius and Hobbes; Part II. The Whig Politics of Liberty in England: 4. James Tyrrell: the voice of moderate Whiggism; 5. The Pufendorfian movement: moderate Whig sovereignty theory; 6. Algernon Sidney and the old Republicanisms; 7. A new Republican England; 8. Natural rights in Locke's two treatises; 9. Lockean liberal constitutionalism; 10. The glorious revolution and the catonic response; Part III. The Whig Legacy in America: 12. British constitutionalism and the challenge of empire; 13. Thomas Jefferson and the radical theory of empire; 14. Tom Paine and popular sovereignty; 15. Revolutionary constitutionalism: laboratories of radical Whiggism; Conclusions; Notes; Bibliography.

Promotional Information

Examines the philosophical origins of the Anglo-American political and constitutional tradition in seventeenth-century England.

About the Author

Dr Lee Ward is Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kenyon College. He has published articles in early modern and ancient political thought and has received several academic honors including Bradley Teaching Fellowship (Kenyon College), Fordham University Dissertation Fellowship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Brown and McNiece Scholarships (University of Toronto).

Reviews

"This impressive volume breaks down the English Whig tradition into three major strands that have profoundly influenced the Anglo-American political tradition. Highly recommended." E.R. Gill, Bradley University, CHOICE "This book has many virtues. It is arguably the fullest account of the genesis of Whig political theory...a major contribution to the intellectual histoyr of the American Revolution...deserves a wide audience." - William and Mary Quarterly, Craig Yirush, UCLA "This is a well-written and welcome work..." American Historical Review Jerome Huyler, Seton Hall University