To BERNARD BAILYN-

whose insights into our revolutionary heritage have defined my

perspective for nearly fifty years. I believe Bailyn's writings are so

original and imaginative no one will ever convince me he was not alive

and present at the founding-listening, questioning, taking notes,

even participating in the thousands of conversations about conspiracy,

imperialism, corruption, and, yes, revolution, from 1760 on-when

Otis, Adams, Jefferson, Paine, and Madison "began our world anew."

My intellectual debt to him is incalculable.

To WILLIAM APPLEMAN WILLIAMS-

a dear friend, whose ongoing assessment of how revolutionary

America transformed itself from a beacon of hope in the world

into an imperial state is unmatched in modern American scholarship.

We spent many days together, sitting on the beach near

Waldport on the Oregon coast, leaning against an uprooted

Douglas fir, sipping "clarity," and considering every angle

of Jefferson's and Madison's theories about how and

why and when and where and to what degree we were a nation

dedicated to liberty. In every instance Bill never lost sight of the

American idea, and at the end he always reaffirmed the Revolution

of 1800. Moreover he did so with elegance, a touch of irony,

and, above all, a marvelous sense of humor.