1. Themes and Lessons from Colonial America

Fischer’s book Albion’s Seed described four British folkways into the colonies.  The four were Puritans to New England, aristocrats to Virginia, Quakers to Pennsylvania, and borderland immigrants to Appalachian backcountry. There was no common union in the thirteen colonies. Each colony selected its own religion. Yes, Anne Hutchinson was driven out of Massachusetts for religious reasons, but the colony contributed a great deal, including the important document called a Body of Liberties.

Confederation attempts generally failed, even when ordered by the King. The colonies were attached to self-government. The American revolutionaries were actually conservatives. In the 1760s British acts began to violate that self-government tradition. The colonists opposed innovation and wanted to be left alone. Do not make the constitution a blank document. Amend it when you must, but it is not a living, breathing constitution.

Lecture 1 of 14 from Tom Woods’ The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History lecture series.