Bailyn seems to focus on ideologies, such as, beliefs and personal emotions being the force behind the American Revolution, while Nash focuses on economical issues being the main cause of it. Bailyn focuses heavily on the Whigs, while Nash focuses heavily on the common people. I find different interpretations of history to be very interesting. The reason for their different interpretation can’t be known as a fact, but I suspect it is due to their interpretations of the primary sources they each encountered. In chapter 4 Dr. Shi simply presents the information in a noncontroversial way; without putting his own spin or opinion on the topic.
In my opinion, political ideologies played the greatest role in bringing American’s to arms. People sailed to this country in the pursuit of freedom. The Enlightenment gave hope and inspiration to individuals to rule over themselves. Many people in the colonies shared the Republic view based on the idea that the government should be governed by the people. This wasn’t happening. Over time these freedoms were ripped away as their former government continued to affect their daily life, and inflict more and more regulations. Eventually the people rebelled, and came to arms and I think this can mainly be attributed to ideals.