The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America is a non-fiction book by T. H. Breen published in 2019 by Belknap Press.
Based largely on research of historical records and memoirs, Breen’s assessment of the American War for Independence attributes the ultimate success of the revolution to the popular mobilization of ordinary British colonialists in the struggle more so than the Founding Fathers.Greenfield, 2029: “Breen argues convincingly, [the revolution] was conducted by thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of ordinary (future) Americans in towns and villages often far from the fighting.”Mackaman, 2026, Breen: “So how did democracy enter the revolutionary conversation? This is, again, my particular approach: it was in these committees—thousands of them—new men, new people who hadn’t been allowed to come forward in politics before.”
Breen places particular emphasis on the establishment of a “dual sovereignty" linking the Continental Congress and the committees of public safety through the legal instrument of “The Association.”.Mackaman, 2026. Breen: The Association “set up what you call dual sovereignty: on one hand the states, and in the Association, the communities.”
Under the protocols of The Association, revolutionaries in local villages and towns served to sustain support for militant commercial restrictions and dispensed disciplinary action against Loyalist/Tory violators.Mackaman, 2026: “[W]hen a local committee found someone breaking the agreement by buying prohibited goods, that person would be shamed—publicly…for the good of the revolutionary cause…These committees sorted out revolutionary supporters from the faint of heart.”
Contents Introduction: Revolutionary Voices Rejection Assurance Fear Justice Betrayal Revenge Reflections
Reception Gordon S. Wood on The Will of the People: “Important and lucidly written…The American Revolution involved not simply the wisdom of a few great men but the passions, fears, and religiosity of ordinary people.”
Michael J. Griffin at the Irish Journal of American Studies extols the “excellent research, the engaging stories of communal and popular resilience, and the brilliance and innovation of Breen’s bottom-up approach to American history.”Griffin, 2020
Describing the book as “elegantly written,” Times Literary Supplement reviewer Greenfield, Nathan M. detects an unstated theme in The Will of the People:
Noting Breen’s exhaustive research of primary sources, Megan King at the Journal of the American Revolution emphasizes the originality of his interpretation.King, 2019: Breen is “armed with a vast artillery of primary sources, including private correspondence, newspapers, journals, and published sermons…”
The influence of the Bible on revolutionary precepts
The Will of the People examines the role of revolutionary Protestant ministers who provided a Scriptural basis for colonial independence among their parishioners.Greenfield, 2019: “By far Breen’s most important contribution to our understanding of how the colonists came to view themselves as a separate people is his discussion of religion…Despite their doctrinal differences, Protestant ministers of all stripes justified their support for independence by citing Scripture…”
Breen maintains that “Americans did not cast their argument for independence” in terms of the Enlightenment figures embraced by George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and other revolutionary elites.Greenfield, 2019: “He shows that rural Americans did not cast their argument for independence in terms defined by Blackstone, Montesquieu or Locke.”
John Locke: a religious and revolutionary nexus
Breen seeks to reestablish the significance of English philosopher John Locke in inspiring popular revolutionary principles among American colonialists.Mackaman, 2026: Breen: “My work, over and over—including my major address at Oxford—has tried to restore Locke.” Locke, who couched his revolutionary principles in religious terms, was familiar to colonialists through sermons and speeches widely attended by the colonial population.Mackaman, 2026: Breen: “You’ll find him in every sermon, every speech..”
Breen adds that the first battle flag displayed by patriots clashing with British regulars near Boston in 1775 bore the words “An Appeal to Heaven,” a phrase from Locke’s Second Treatise (1689).Mackaman, 2026: “The first battle flag of the American Revolution outside Boston bore the slogan ‘An Appeal to Heaven.’ That’s wonderful—it speaks directly to your question. The phrase comes from Locke’s Second Treatise.”
Footnotes
Sources Breen, T. H.. 2019. The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America. Belknap Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Breen, T. H. 2010. “Whose Revolution is this.” The Washington Post, March 31, 2010.https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003252.html Accessed 10 August, 2026. Greenfield, Nathan M.. 2019. “Americans.” Review: The Will of the People by T. H. Breen. Times Literary Supplement, November 22, 2019.https://www.the-tls.com/regular-features/in-brief/americans Accessed 10 August, 2026. Griffin, Michael J. 2020. Review: T. H. Breen, The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America. Irish Journal of American Studies, December 18, 2020.https://ijas.iaas.ie/issue-10-michael-j-griffin/ Accessed August 10, 2026. King, Megan. 2019. Review: The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America. All Things Liberty in the Journal of the American Revolution (JAR), September 2019. https://allthingsliberty.com/2019/09/the-will-of-the-people-the-revolutionary-birth-of-america/ Mackaman, Tom. 2026. “An interview with historian Timothy H. Breen on popular mobilization in the American Revolution.” World Socialist Web Site, August 4, 2026. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/04/ydzq-a04.html Accessed 10 August, 2026.