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Dedication

      In Memory of

      Isaac Kramnick

American Political Thought

      An Invitation

      KEN I. KERSCH

      polity

      Copyright © Ken Kersch 2021

      The right of Ken Kersch to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First published in 2021 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

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      Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

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      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3035-9

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Kersch, Kenneth Ira, 1964- author.

      Title: American political thought : an invitation / Ken I. Kersch.

      Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “The best one-volume introduction to American Political Thought available”-- Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2020027944 (print) | LCCN 2020027945 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509530328 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509530335 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509530359 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: United States--Politics and government--Philosophy.

      Classification: LCC JK31 .K469 2021 (print) | LCC JK31 (ebook) | DDC 320.0973--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027944 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027945

      The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

      For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

Acknowledgments

      In thinking about and writing this book, I am grateful for the assistance of my Boston College students, both the many with whom I have explored this subject in my classes, and the few who provided more extensive critiques, suggestions, and research assistance. Of the latter, I am especially grateful to Steven LeGere, Aaron Pezzullo, and, thankfully, once again, Ryan Towey. Kaylie Ramirez and Caleb Tansey from BC provided more targeted advice, as did Chris Bartlett, Richard Bensel, and Ted Holsten. My conversations with Clem Fatovic on this topic have been so numerous that it is hard for me to know where his understandings of key points and issues end and my own begin.

      Anyone who has studied this subject with Isaac Kramnick at Cornell, as Clem and I did together, will know, as casual readers might not, that Isaac’s influence on this book is pervasive. It is also hard for me to imagine having learned whatever I have about this subject without thinking of my initial conversations at Cornell with Ted Lowi, Richard Bensel, Jeremy Rabkin, and Elizabeth Sanders. I have learned an immense amount about this subject since, of course, especially from Keith Whittington, Mark Graber, and Carol Nackenoff, but from many others as well. Boston College provided generous financial assistance.

      I am immensely grateful to George Owers at Polity, both for soliciting me to write a book on this topic – which I had long been pondering – and for being such a knowledgeable, engaged, and inspiring editor. The anonymous outside reviewers George assembled first for the book proposal and then for the completed manuscript provided extraordinarily penetrating critiques, sage advice, and essential corrections that significantly improved the book. I also would like to thank Julia Davies at Polity, whose expertise and attentiveness have been indispensable to whatever successes this book may have.

      It was with great sadness that I learned of Isaac Kramnick’s death as I was completing this manuscript. But it is with a resolute happiness that I dedicate it to his memory.

Timeline

       Chapter 2 Settlement, the Road to Revolution, the Founding, and the Early Republic

      1565: First permanent European settlement established by Spain at St. Augustine, Florida

      1607: First permanent English settlement established at Jamestown, Virginia

      1619: First African laborers imported to British North America

      1620: English Puritans settle at Plymouth, Massachusetts

      1624: First Dutch Settlement at New Amsterdam (seized by the British in 1664, when its name was changed to New York)

      1630–1637: Massachusetts Bay colony established

      1675–1678: King Philip’s War

      1688–1689: Glorious Revolution (England)

      1689: Publication of John Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government

      1689: English Bill of Rights

      1730–1755 (circa): First Great Awakening

      1769: Spanish Catholic Franciscan missionaries establish twenty-one permanent missions along the California coast

      1775: Pennsylvania Abolition Society founded

      1775–1783: American Revolution

      1776