Some Americans who advocated revolution in 1776 desired little domestic change. Others desired political and social changes, but were quickly frightened by the transformation war brought about. But few embodied the era’s revolutionary spirit as profoundly as Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and James Monroe embodied the revolutionary. They wanted to see change in the fabric of America that could never be realized while the colonies remained under Britain’s rule—and they also hoped this fight would inspire revolutions that would sweep Europe free of its own monarchies. Even the threat of personal danger failed to temper their activism on behalf of both the American and the French revolutions.  

Historian John Ferling explores the careers of these Founding Fathers, what fueled their revolutionary passions, and how their thinking evolved after 1776.  

Ferling is a professor emeritus at the University of West Georgia. His new book, Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe (Bloomsbury), is available for sale and signing.