Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary and Analysis

Republicanizing monarchy goes further in the American colonies than anywhere in the English-speaking world. The colonists fail to understand how radical their thinking is, because republicanism has become part of the culture on both sides of the Atlantic, and resisting tyranny is what good Englishmen do. Americans magnify English qualities and carry them to excesses.

Many non-English immigrants feel no attachment to the monarchy. Scotch-Irish and Irish immigrants have grievances against the regime they fled. Many stern, sober New Englanders cling ritualistically to their Puritan heritage of defiance. Southerners most emulate English ways. George III is too far away to be seen as any more than a good fellow, while his appointed governors are too petty to enhance royal dignity. The harmony achieved between centralized and local authorities in Britain in 1688 is absent in America, making it difficult for...