Wonderful book.

Wonderful book.  Read Less

A lengthy detailed study of pre-Revolutionary war colonial history through the revolutionary war and the forming of the confede...  Read More

A lengthy detailed study of pre-Revolutionary war colonial history through the revolutionary war and the forming of the confederacy after Yorktown. It includes extensive review of British politics and conflict during the colonial period as well as other European attitudes and the effects on attitudes in Europe. This is aspect not seen in most American history books although referenced sources do cover various aspects of these effects.  Read Less

Epigraph - ''Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slave...  Read More

Epigraph - ''Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence.'' John LockeRothbard explains in the preface - ''I see the liberty of the individual not only as a great moral good in itself (or, with Lord Acton, as the highest political good), but also as the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other goods that mankind cherishes: moral virtue, civilization, the arts and sciences, economic prosperity. Out of liberty, then, stem the glories of civilized life.''PART I Europe, England, and the New World1. Europe at the Dawn of the Modern Era2. New World, New LandInterestingly, Rothbard starts with Europe in the twelfth century to explain colonial America. Very discerning. Presents the reasons for the voyages of discovery from multiple viewpoints, Portuguese, French, English, Russian and Spanish. Focuses on the change from individual free trade to state controlled 'mercantilism'. Mentions the complaint of the English that the freedom to trade was guaranteed in Magna Carta. Excellent!Covers the English men, Raleigh, Drake, etc., and companies who discovered and settled America. Makes a fascinating connection with the destruction of Ireland and the destruction of the natives in America. Same goal, selfish domination. Comments on the Tudors and their creating methods of control, especially the selling of destructive monopolies.PART II The Southern Colonies in the Seventeenth Century3. The Virginia Company4. From Company to Royal Colony5. The Social Structure of Virginia: Planters and Farmers6. The Social Structure of Virginia: Bondservants and Slaves7. Religion in Virginia8. The Royal Government of Virginia9. British Mercantilism over Virginia10. Relations with the Indians11. Bacon’s Rebellion12. Maryland13. The Carolinas14. The Aftermath of Bacon’s Rebellion in the Other Southern Colonies15. The Glorious Revolution and its Aftermath16. Virginia After Bacon’s RebellionAs the chapters above indicate, Rothbard presents a detailed analysis of the Virginia and Carolinas. Highlights the destructive impact of the monopolies. These are created by the crown in order to collect revenue from the purchasers. The resulting poverty requires oppressive, cruel political oppression.The cruelty continues with the importation of English bond servants, some kidnapped, especially children from England. Indians are captured and enslaved. Later, even a larger number of African slaves enter Virginia. Horrible result, requiring even more oppression due to the repeated slave revolts. Details the causes and effects of Bacon's revolt, one hundred years before American revolution. Fascinating!PART III The Founding of New England17. The Religious Factor20.The Puritans “Purify”: Theocracy in Massachusetts21. Suppressing Heresy: The Flight of Roger Williams22. Suppressing Heresy: The Flight of Anne Hutchinson24. Rhode Island in the 1650s: Roger Williams’ Shift from Liberty27. Joint Action in New England: The Pequot War29. Suppressing Heresy: Massachusetts Persecutes the Quakers30. Economics Begins to Dissolve the Theocracy: Disintegration of the Fur Monopoly31. Economics Begins to Dissolve the Theocracy: The Failure of Wage and Price Control32. Mercantilism, Merchants, and “Class Conflict”34. The Rise of the Fisheries and the Merchants37. The Restoration Crisis in New England''“The Puritans in leaving England,” the historian Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker wrote, “fled not so much from persecution as from error.” It was to build a rigorous theocracy free from dissent that the Puritans built a colony in America. And yet a Protestant theocracy must always suffer from a grave inner contradiction: for one significant tenet of Protestantism is the individual’s ability to interpret the Bible free of ecclesiastical dictates. Although particular Protestant creeds may have no intention of countenancing or permitting dissent, the Protestant stimulus to individual interpretation must inevitably provoke that very dissent.''This conundrum dominated New England society at that time.PART IV The Rise and Fall of New Netherland38. The Formation of New Netherland41. New Netherland Persecutes the QuakersPART V The Northern Colonies in the Last Quarter of the Seventeenth Century44. The Beginning of Andros’ Rule in New York46. King Philip’s War47. The Crown Begins the Takeover of New England, 1676-167949. Edward Randolph Versus Massachusetts, 1680-168450. The Reopening of the Narragansett Claims, 1679-168351. The Rule of Joseph Dudley and the Council of New England55. “The Holy Experiment”: The Founding of Pennsylvania, 1681-169056. The Dominion of New England59. Aftermath in the 1690s: The Salem Witch-Hunt and Stoughton’s Rise to Power60. The Liberalism of Lord Bellomont in the Royal Colonies62. Rhode Island and Connecticut After the Glorious Revolution''One of William Penn’s most notable achievements was to set a remarkable pattern of peace and justice with the Indians. In November 1682 Penn concluded the first of several treaties of peace and friendship with the Delaware Indians at Shackamaxon.'' (7712)Pattern 'of peace and justice'!''But this surely accounts for only part of the story. For the Quakers not only insisted on voluntary purchase of land from the Indians; they also treated the Indians as human beings, as deserving of respect and dignity as anyone else. Hence they deserved to be treated with honesty, friendliness, and evenhanded justice. As a consequence, the Quakers were treated precisely the same way in return.''Voluntary 'purchase of land'! Astounding!''No drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by the Indians. So strong was the mutual trust between the races that Quaker farmers unhesitatingly left their children in the care of the Indians. Originally, too, the law provided that whenever an Indian was involved in a trial, six whites and six Indians would constitute the jury.''''Not a drop of Quaker blood shed''. Wow!''Voltaire, rapturous over the Quaker achievement, wittily and perceptively wrote that the Shackamaxon treaty was “the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken.” Voltaire went on to say that for the Indians “it was truly a new sight to see a sovereign [William Penn] to whom everyone said ‘thou’ and to whom one spoke with one’s hat on one’s head; a government without priests, a people without arms, citizens as equal as the magistrate, and neighbors without jealousy.” (7712)Where did this go? Where can it be rediscovered?  Read Less