Ideological Origins of the American Revolution Primary Sources
Historical documents. What clues can you gather about the time, place, players, and culture?
Locke: An Inspiration for Revolution
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
John Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1690) is available online here.
The Founding Documents
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Editor Samuel Eliot Morison has compiled an excellent collection of founding documents, state constitutions, and pamphlets.
An Alternative Perspective
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Peter Oliver's Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion (1781) is a Loyalist account of the Revolution, before the Treaty of Paris had formally concluded it.
Capitalism Is Born
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) represents the founding tract of modern economics.
The Stamp Act
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
We've got an entire learning guide devoted to the much-hated Stamp Act of 1765 that helped spark the American Revolution.
Treaty of Paris (1783)
![](https://media1.shmoop.com/media/common/off-site01.gif)
We have a learning guide on the treaty that ended the war, too.