PDF Pagan Britain by Ronald Hutton in History

Description

An eye-opening; meticulously researched new perspective on the influences that shaped the Founders as well as the nation's founding document From one election cycle to the next; a defining question continues to divide the country’s political parties: Should the government play a major or a minor role in the lives of American citizens? The Declaration of Independence has long been invoked as a philosophical treatise in favor of limited government. Yet the bulk of the document is a discussion of policy; in which the Founders outlined the failures of the British imperial government. Above all; they declared; the British state since 1760 had done too little to promote the prosperity of its American subjects. Looking beyond the Declaration’s frequently cited opening paragraphs; Steve Pincus reveals how the document is actually a blueprint for a government with extensive powers to promote and protect the people’s welfare. By examining the Declaration in the context of British imperial debates; Pincus offers a nuanced portrait of the Founders’ intentions with profound political implications for today.