PREFACE
The revolution that transformed the thirteen colonies into the United States was in many ways one of the great mysteries of human history. This wasn’t only because no one knew what the outcome would be—there was no precedent for a successful democratic uprising against a powerful government—but also due to the extraordinary new threads being woven into the American tapestry. The period leading up to the American Revolution was a time of extraordinary intellectual exuberance. The edge of the vast American wilderness was being probed and mapped, and the boundaries of natural philosophy—which wouldn’t be called “science” until the next century—were rapidly expanding. The proliferation of printing presses, schools, and economic opportunities were empowering individuals in unprecedente
