Using the British Empire as a case study, this succinct study argues
that the establishment of overseas settlements in America created a
problem of constitutional organization. The failure to resolve the
resulting tensions led to the thirteen continental colonies seceding
from the empire in 1776. Challenging those historians who have assumed
that the British had the law on their side during the debates that led
to the American Revolution, this volume argues that the empire had
long exhibited a high degree of constitutional multiplicity, with each
colony having its own discrete constitution. Contending that these
constitutions cannot be conflated with the metropolitan British
constitution, it argues that British refusal to accept the legitimacy
of colonial understandings of the sanctity of the many colonial
constitutions and the imperial constitution was the critical element
leading to the American Revolution.
Les mer
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780511851117
Publisert
2013
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter