Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution And the Means of Making it a Benefit to the World Cambridge Library Collection - North American History Series

Having urged political reforms in Britain, Richard Price (1723?91) turned to defending the cause of American independence. Born in Wales, Price became an influential moral philosopher, dissenting Protestant preacher, political pamphleteer, and economic theorist. Known for his trenchant defence of the freedom of the human will against philosophical sceptics, Price applied his justification of individual moral agency to political issues - particularly the American Revolution - during the latter part of his life. This tract on America first appeared in 1784. Defining the right of American colonists to oppose British corruption, it suggested that their independence would offer much 'benefit to the world'. But it also offered a relatively rare critique of the system of racial slavery that continued to develop in America. Reissued here is the 1785 publication that also contained translations from French of a letter to Price by the economist Turgot and a parody by Charles-Joseph Mathon de la Cour which had amused Benjamin Franklin.

1. Of the importance of the revolution; 2. Of the means of promoting human improvement and happiness in the United States; 3. Of peace; 4. Of liberty; 5. Of liberty of discussion; 6. Of liberty of conscience; 7. Of education; 8. Of the dangers to which the United States are exposed; 9. Of debts and internal wars; 10. Of an unequal distribution of poverty; 11. Of trade, banks, and public credit; 12. Of oaths; 13. Of the Negro trade and slavery; 14. Conclusion; Letter from M. Turgot; Translation of M. Turgot's letter; Appendix, containing a translation of the will of M. Fortuné Ricard; Tables.