The American Revolution was unlike any others in the history of revolutions. It "occurred in the empire distinguished above all others in the eighteenth century by the large measure of political, religious, and economic freedom it allowed its colonies overseas" (Miller, xiii). Thus, Ameri- cans, unlike other revolutionary people, had already experienced some forms of freedom. An important reason for the Revolution was the desire for even more than they already had. "Like all revolutions, …showed first 75 words of 516 total…

…showed last 75 words of 516 total…possessed" (Miller, xviii-xix). While the question of how revolutionary the American Revolution was remains an inherently unresolved issue (Lipset, 10), there is no doubt that the American experience was a real Revolution. It was a struggle to progress from dependent colonies to independent states, from monarchy to republic, from membership in an extended empire in which the several members were connected only through the center to participation in a singly federal nation... (Greene, 1). And it succeeded.