The Pennsylvania constitution of 1776 ignited an extensive and intractable debate that remained at the center of the state’s politics throughout the Revolutionary period. This debate encompassed disagreement over a broad range of questions relating to the relationship between government and society, many of which brought into question the implications of the concept of popular sovereignty for governmental structure and popular political agency. Competing notions regarding these issues, while expressed within a general framework of consensus concerning the source of political authority [the people], revealed fundamentally different visions of governmental order. Partisans presented these visions as inextricably connected to their respective understandings of the American Revolution. This debate suggests that constitutionalism and political ideology were closely connected to, and mutually informative of, one another during the Revolution and that factions within the Patriot cause perceived their differing visions of government and brands of constitutionalism as inseparable from the cause of the Revolution itself.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Pennsylvania constitution of 1776 ignited an extensive and intractable debate that remained at the center of the state’s politics throughout the Revolutionary period. This debate encompassed disagreement over a broad range of questions relating to the relationship between government and society, many of which brought into question the implications of the concept of popular sovereignty for governmental structure and popular political agency. Competing notions regarding these issues, while expressed within a general framework of consensus concerning the source of political authority [the people], revealed fundamentally different visions of governmental order. Partisans presented these visions as inextricably connected to their respective understandings of the American Revolution. This debate suggests that constitutionalism and political ideology were closely connected to, and mutually informative of, one another during the Revolution and that factions within the Patriot cause perceived their differing visions of government and brands of constitutionalism as inseparable from the cause of the Revolution itself. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["New, Tristan James"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z","subjects":["American Revolution","constitution","ideologies","Patriot movement","Pennsylvania","state constitutions","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Tristan James New"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/598","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["New, Tristan James"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American Revolution","constitution","ideologies","Patriot movement","Pennsylvania","state constitutions","United States History"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Tristan James New"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/598"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Pennsylvania constitution of 1776 ignited an extensive and intractable debate that remained at the center of the state’s politics throughout the Revolutionary period. This debate encompassed disagreement over a broad range of questions relating to the relationship between government and society, many of which brought into question the implications of the concept of popular sovereignty for governmental structure and popular political agency. Competing notions regarding these issues, while expressed within a general framework of consensus concerning the source of political authority [the people], revealed fundamentally different visions of governmental order. Partisans presented these visions as inextricably connected to their respective understandings of the American Revolution. This debate suggests that constitutionalism and political ideology were closely connected to, and mutually informative of, one another during the Revolution and that factions within the Patriot cause perceived their differing visions of government and brands of constitutionalism as inseparable from the cause of the Revolution itself.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Referendum on the Revolution: The Pennsylvania Constitutional Debate, 1776-1784"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["New, Tristan James"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Pennsylvania constitution of 1776 ignited an extensive and intractable debate that remained at the center of the state’s politics throughout the Revolutionary period. This debate encompassed disagreement over a broad range of questions relating to the relationship between government and society, many of which brought into question the implications of the concept of popular sovereignty for governmental structure and popular political agency. Competing notions regarding these issues, while expressed within a general framework of consensus concerning the source of political authority [the people], revealed fundamentally different visions of governmental order. Partisans presented these visions as inextricably connected to their respective understandings of the American Revolution. This debate suggests that constitutionalism and political ideology were closely connected to, and mutually informative of, one another during the Revolution and that factions within the Patriot cause perceived their differing visions of government and brands of constitutionalism as inseparable from the cause of the Revolution itself.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/598"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Tristan James New"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["American Revolution","constitution","ideologies","Patriot movement","Pennsylvania","state constitutions","United States History"],"dc:title":["Referendum on the Revolution: The Pennsylvania Constitutional Debate, 1776-1784"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z"}