Revolutionary Outlaws - by Michael Bellesiles (Paperback)

About the Book

It explores the roots of popular political commitment to the patriot cause, the significance of rural crowd activity, the character of popular religious culture and dissent, and the origins and structures of an emerging democratic polity.

Book Synopsis

In this revisionary look at the eighteenth-century frontier, Michael A. Bellesiles shows us that more than a legendary Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen was the leader of a group of frontier subsistence farmers united in their opposition to New York elites and land speculators; the independence Allen and his followers fought for was as much from eastern elites as it was from the British crown. But what makes the story of the Green Mountain frontier so remarkable is that the settlers won.

Revolutionary Outlaws is both a biography of Ethan Allen and a social history of the conflict between agrarian commoners and their wealthy adversaries. It explores the roots of popular political commitment to the patriot cause, the significance of rural crowd activity, the character of popular religious culture and dissent, and the origins and structures of an emerging democratic polity.

From the Back Cover

The reader is immersed in the social history of this wild area, settled under a cloud of outrageous land fraud and replete with diverse religious groups, squabbling factions, and a restless population from Connecticut and a variety of other places... 'Revolutionary Outlaws' is a rich, exquisite, and provocative book, highlighting successful radical efforts within the broader - and more restrained - outlines of American independence. -- Journal of the Early Republic

About the Author

Michael Bellesiles is Assistant Professor of History at Emory University. He received the Louis Pelzer Award for his article "The Establishment of Legal Structures on the Frontier."