Problem
The colonial crisis of the eighteenth century led to significant debates, in Britain and America, over the nature of authority, and the meaning of terms like liberty and equality. Supporters and opponents of the American Revolution often had very different definitions and understandings of these concepts.
Analyzing the contrasting attitudes to authority and government, and the differing ideas about liberty and equality, among the supporters and opponents of the American Revolution. How did those who supported the Revolution understand the relationship between government and the people, and how did this differ from the ideas of those who opposed the Revolution? How did each group define liberty, and what did they think of the idea of natural equality?