need some college lit. help

[Vicken]

Ok this is a long shot, but I think I stepped in quicksand. I picked a very hard subject for my seven page college inquiry paper, though I find it very interesting.

I'm writing about Machiavelli's books. Specifically, The Art of War, Discourses, and The Prince. My main objective is to compare and relate his writings and political ideas to that of the American Revolution. Specifically on Ben Franklin writings on how they relate (to Mach). How George Washington could be considered a "Prince" in Machiavelli's view, and finally how the Queen of England can be compared to those that missed their "fortune".

Obviously, if you haven't read Machiavelli, you won't konw what I am talking about, but all I need is some good analytical books on Ben Franklin, George Washington, the American Revolution, and England's policies (esp. those supported by the queen). I am looking for political and social information. I don't need basic events or the junk thats in school history books. Any good free websites that discuss this is good as well.

 

[Novgrod]

you picked a really, really, really difficult topic. i'm familiar with machiavelli, and i know lots and lots and lots and lots on the american revolution, and, well, the case can be made but it's wrong.

If you want to read about the ideology of the american revolution, the key books are _The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution_ by bernard Bailyn, _The Radicalism of the American Revolution_ by Gordon Wood, and--err i always forget the title but the one about the sons of liberty by Pauline Maier. Edit: the title is "from resistance to revolution"

The British case might work (remember it was teh King at that point, George III, and not the queen). Anyway, if you want to know more about this i probably have lots to contribute, so PM me.

Here's why: the prince, in particular, is the first book really to expose the underpinnings of politics by which people maneuver to gain power. Of all the Americans who can be said to have done there, Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris are the only two for whom it would hold water. The rest of them are the shlubs fighting for ideals that Machiavelli wants his prince to control, and George Washington does very very little controlling--early he's getting everything written by James Madison, who really doesn't want power, and later by Alexander Hamilton, and he doesn't really want power himself, just a centralized state.

 

[Vicken]

believe me I know its a difficult topic. Machiavelli is very hard to understand. It was either this or social issues in the The Dacameron, a book I find very boring.

PS: YGPM

 

[Novgrod]

I'm not saying it's impossible, i'm just saying that if it's at all possible, you want to make the counter-argument, that the American Revolution is an instance of the total failure of machiavellian politics.

 

[leung324]

if you have time, read from dawn to decadence by J. Barzun.