What are the two ideological origins of the American Revolution?

Answer 1

The English tradition of liberty, through the Magna Carta and down, formed a basis for the colonists beliefs. Many Enlightenment ideas and thinkers fueled their ideology. For example, the works john Locke and Adam Smith. I'm not sure if these are *the* two, but they're two.

---- There are a few components to the overall ideology of the American Revolution: 1. English Consitutionalism - as stated above the Magna Carta and England's unwritten Constitution as well as its Parliamentary style of government. 2. Classical Influences - The founders were heavily influenced by classical authors such as Cicero as well as the history of the fall of the Roman Republic. Many read both Latin and Greek authors in their original languages. They sought to learn from the Roman Republic's fall ways to avoid having that happen to their own budding republic and held up such Romans as Cicero, Cato the Younger, and Brutus as republican heroes. 3. European Enlightenment - Many of the founders, especially Jefferson, were highly influenced by the European Enlightenment including the French philosophes, British empiricists (who also wrote on government), as well as Scottish Enlightenment thinkers such as Frances Hutcheson. These are the three most commonly accepted influences on the ideology of the American Revolution. For more in depth knowledge on the subject I would suggest Bernard Bailyn's Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, Carl J. Richard's The Founders and the Classics, Gordon Wood's Radicalism of the American Revolution and Henry Steele Commager's Empire of Reason. Also, you can never go wrong with the primary documents of Jefferson, Adams, and many others.