The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89 Book Analysis Essay

In the book THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLIC, 1763-89, Edmund S. Morgan, the author, takes us on a journey on the challenges the American colonists had with the taxes the British pressed on them. Morgan does an excellent job showcasing the American people’s thoughts and how they reacted to the taxes they were forced to pay. Morgan also shows how the colonist responded to the taxes and how it led to them seeking out freedom and eventually the revolution. He also uses examples and information from pamphlets, newspapers, and letters from the period to back up his arguments.

The book starts with Morgan showing the relationship between the colonist and the British. The book then transitions into the thoughts of the British citizens and how they wanted to begin to tax the colonist. This is when the relationship between the colonist and the mother country began to slightly go into the worst. Morgan also does an excellent job in showcasing how the colonist felt for example when the stamp and sugar act where passes, Morgan showed through a whole chapter how the colonist felt and the actions Benjamin franklin took to unite the colonies. Chronologically, Morgan shows each tax like the sugar and stamp act, and he also shows actions that the colonist took like the Boston tea party, Morgan also shows the thoughts of the British people and why they decided to tax the colonist. Morgan spends little time on the war; however, he shows all the important parts and how that impacted the people. He then finishes the book with the creation of the important documents and how the government is being created. 

Morgan is an accomplished writer whose written many pieces and had earned high credibility. Morgan was a professor of History at Yale, University, he worked there from the year 1955 to 1986. Morgan’s specialized in American colonial history which makes him a very credible person to write this book. As someone who specializes in American colonial history, he has written novels like The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, American Slavery, American Freedom. These books gave Edmund S. Morgan the praise he deserved as a renowned historian and a past president of the Organization of American Historians. 

Morgan does an outstanding job of embedding many documents into his book, THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLIC, 1763-89. He uses government documents like the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation, which adds a huge amount of credibility to his book. Another document he used in his book was the federal Constitution, by using these very credible sources added to his very credible reputation, Morgan backs up all his data by quotes from document or people. An example of this is, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights”[1]. This is a quote from the Declaration of Independence, which is a document declaring that the United States is to be independent from the British. By adding this quote into his book, Morgan shows us how important freedom was to the colonist. With the book leading up to how the colonist wanted freedom this quote is perfect for the reader to show them the importance of it, which only improves the quality of the book. Another example of Morgan using real, credible documents is from the Article of Confederation. The article stated, “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right”.[2] By quoting some of the most important American documents, Morgan builds up good credibility and at the same time proving argument in the book. By showing quotes about freedom he shows the end goal that the colonist got too. By showing all the hardships the Americans went through for the past few years, he emphasizes the importance of freedom to them. Using these quotes doesn’t only help the flow of the book but it also makes it entertaining and adds more depth to the book.

Something Morgan did was do an intense amount of reading on many pamphlets, and letters of the time period. By putting a lot of time into analyzing them, Morgan discovered that the American colonist agreed to the British attempts to rebuild the empire. By using many pamphlets as evidence Morgan was able to find out information about history that many historians before him weren’t able to find out. By making this realization from the pamphlets from the American Revolution, Morgan has left a huge impact on the historical world, and at the same time helping the flow of his book. By adding this in he can start his book, which starts after the French and Indian war. 

By using good evidence and a great explanation, Morgan left many historians in love with his book. Morgan’s book is a classic that has survived many generations and with each new generation comes many new historians who very much like the book. An example of a historian who gave the book, THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLIC,1763-89, good praise is Wilson Quarterly. He stated, “No better brief chronological introduction of the period can be found than Edmund S. Morgan The Birth of the Republic: 1763-89.”[3] This quote is one of many people who praised the renowned Edmund S. Morgan on his book. With the book having such a good reputation with historians that only proves that the information he used in his book was great and that his explanations backed up his historical argument. 

Morgan does an outstanding job adding primary sources into his book to make it more credible and easier to read. Morgan also does an incredible job of writing the book in chronological order which makes it more organized and better to read. With these things, he takes us on a journey on how taxes from the British affected the Americans and pushed them to the point of rebellion.

[1] (Morgan 2013, 159)

[2] (Morgan 2013, 159)

[3] (Morgan 2013, back cover)

Final Citations

S, Morgan, Edmund. The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89, Fourth Edition (The Chicago History of American Civilization). University of Chicago Press.