A Struggle For Power

I'm reading Theodore Draper's A Struggle For Power: The American Revolution.  Somebody recommended it to me.

A Struggle For Power is a 'startlingly original and magisterial account of the causes and nature of the American Revolution.'

Chapter One is the Seven Years War and what the implications were for 'the Colonies.'  After an unpromising beginning it began to become evident in 1760 that Great Britain would 'win' the American version of the Seven Years War.  A 'pamphlet war' then began as various pamphleteers attempted to make a case for what the spoils should be.  The French would cede Canada OR Guadalupe, their largest 'sugar island' in the West Indies.  Economically Guadalupe was probably worth more but Canada had economic benefits too and immense territory.  And was contiguous. 

Much of the debate revolved around which would keep the colonies 'in line.'  Leave the French in Canada to keep the colonies dependent on 'the mother country' for defense?  Franklin, living in England at the time, was among those arguing that there was no need to worry about the loyalties of the colonists.

Chapter Two looks back to the origins of the colonies, starting with Jamestown, and the fact that they were corporate, for-profit, expeditions.  Their charters granted them a great deal of autonomy and the fact that they were left to raise and spend revenues as needed and as they were able created self-sufficient political entities.

I'll begin Chapter Three tonight ...

Books I Read In 2016

The Boo, Pat Conroy

From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia
Pinkaj Mishra

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America,
Kevin M. Kruse

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,
H. W. Brands

Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson

Once In A Great City: A Detroit Story,David Maraniss

Being Nixon: A Man Divided, Evan Thomas

Set Point, Mark Porter

John Lennon: The Life, Philip Norman

Duel On The Cinders, Mark Porter

FDR, Jean Edward Smith