What Students Read In 1776 | The Books That Shaped The Revolution

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What Students Read In 1776 | The Books That Shaped The Revolution

Have you ever wondered which books shaped the American founding or ignited the Revolution? In this episode, I cover the books the founders would have studied at Harvard or Yale and provide a breakdown of those that would have shaped their thinking. From John Adams, Nathan Hale, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, to the famous Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Warren, and Sam Adams, we learn what the founders were reading on the eve of 1776. This is a fascinating topic to me, and I hope you enjoy.

The links to most of the sources are below. I will eventually create a Substack post and compile this material further.

Substack: https://substack.com/@robpirie

Some books mentioned in the video:

• John Adams - David McCullough: https://amzn.to/4oZ28Ip
• Alexander Hamilton: https://amzn.to/44pzKn7
• Washington: A Life - Ron Chernow:  https://amzn.to/44jcaZ8
• Founding Martyr (Joseph Warren): https://amzn.to/4eS6a0z
• Ben Franklin - Walter Isaacson: https://amzn.to/4p4CUsm
• Joseph Addison's Cato: https://amzn.to/4vEjJYD
• Euclid's Elements: https://amzn.to/4vCXout
• Common Sense - Thomas Paine: https://amzn.to/4eIk86o
• John Milton Works: https://amzn.to/4v54Qxp
• Plato - The Republic: https://amzn.to/456FIKp
• Cicero On Duties: https://amzn.to/44IAQg2
• Aeneid - Virgil - https://amzn.to/4gB1EGv
• Hommer: https://amzn.to/4vTsIVS
• Political Theory of the American Founding: Thomas West: https://amzn.to/4ayX73l
• Nathan Hale - William Phelps: https://amzn.to/44G4FxI
• Sam Adams - The Revolutionary - Stacy Schiff: https://amzn.to/4vHBbvn
• Benjamin Rush - Harlow Giles Unger: https://amzn.to/44GEfMp
• 1776 - David McCullough: https://amzn.to/4eH5koL

Harvard Database Research:
https://guides.library.harvard.edu/hua/harvard17th18th
https://guides.library.harvard.edu/hua/earlycurriculum

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