Creation Date
5-8-2026
Degree
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History
Major(s)
History; Philosophy
Document Type
Immediate Campus-Only Restricted Access
Abstract
This thesis explores the validity of the proposition by historian Gordon Wood that the American Revolution was founded on, and motivated by, the idea of equality. I argue against this hypothesis by illustrating how the similar points expressed by John Adams in the Braintree Instructions and Thoughts on Government illustrate a continuity of ideas, none of which center on the notion of equality as Wood defines it. Adams’s consistent emphasis on education, knowledge of rights, the importance of a balanced government, and the fair and just application of the law all do more to point towards a vision for a post-revolutionary society that, socially, functioned much like the one that existed prior to the American Revolution. Equality, while valuable as a motivational tool and concept for Americans, was not a value that was adopted or reflected in the writings of the white, wealthy elite men who would go on to draft the founding documents of the United States of America.
Date Defended
4-23-2026
Thesis Director
Dr. Julia Osman
Second Committee Member
Dr. Judith Ridner
Third Committee Member
Dr. Matthew Peaple
Recommended Citation
Doyle, Rose S., ""A Government of Laws, and Not of Men": The Non-Radicalism of the American Revolution Explained through John Adams and the Consistency of the Ideas that Made America" (2026). Honors Theses. 200.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/honorstheses/200
