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Are the Scottish roots of the American Revolution more ancient?

This article by UK daily The Guardian reviewing the work of Scottish-American historian Linda McDonald-Lewis touches upon that very subject. The argument goes along the lines of tracing American ideals of liberty and democracy not on ancient Greek philosophy, nor the Magna Carta, and deeper and more ancient than the Scottish Enlightenment, but on the Declaration of Arbroath in the Fourteenth Century (1320). See also this link from the portal Gateway to Scotland and versions of the Declaration in the original Latin and English.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jul/05/declaration-independence-arbroath-wordsmiths

More on the Scottish Enlightenment

Scottish Philosophy - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry

Northern Lights: How modern life emerged from eighteen-century Edinburgh - Article from The New Yorker

Sent from my iPhone, re-edited on Blogger

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