Bernard Bailyn’s “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution” and Westley Craven’s “The Legend of the Founding Fathers” are two prominent works that explore the ideological foundations that the Nation was founded on. Both of these books offer valuable insight into the intellectual and political ideas that surrounded the American Revolution. They approach the subject from distinctly different perspectives, raising questions about the myths and realities that surround the nation's founding fathers. This comparative review will be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses that come from each work and examine their contributions to our understanding of American history and the legacy of the founding fathers. Through analysis of key aspects…show more content… By doing this, Bailyn puts emphasis on their intellectual contributions to the American Revolution. In contrast to this, Craven’s view scrutinizes the founding fathers actions and their legacies. By doing this, Craven highlights their shortcomings, contradictions, and the ways in which the founding fathers have been mythologized in American History as a whole. These differences in treatment show Bailyn still offering readers a more intellectual perspective on history, while Craven continues to provide a more critical assessment of his time through the founding fathers as historical figures. Following this are the different aspects of legacy and contemporary relevance. While there was also a similarity between the two works, the way the authors go about approaching the aspect is different. Bailyn’s work puts an emphasis on the significance of the ideas articulated during the revolution, highlighting the impact these ideas had on American political culture and institutions. Craven, however, focuses more on how and in what ways the Founding Fathers myth has come into place, formed over time, and the implications on American
