Revolutionary era literature was written in the context of political conflict. In thousands of columns of colonial newspapers, hundreds of published pamphlets, and countless topical poems this polemical writing addressed particular issues and events that led to war with the mother country. While this literature typically concerned itself with the details of imperial policy—virtual and actual representation, taxation —it also grappled with questions that continue to be central to democratic life. What is the proper source of political authority? What should be the basis of individuals rights, and how far should those rights extend? If a government's success depends on the virtue of its citizens, what are the limits and possibilities of human nature? In exploring these questions writers drew on two distinct eighteenth-century literary traditions—the secular, Whig tradition in which critics had voiced opposition to the abuse...