@RobertBarnes, in the latest Bourbon with Barnes, stated that The American Revolution was a conservative revolution. Here are two excellent volumes which amplify this import concept:

The Political Thought of the American Revolution: Part Three of Seedtime of the Republic is a seminal 1963 standalone publication by American historian Clinton Rossiter.

Originally the final section of his 1953 book Seedtime of the Republic, it explores the native, evolutionary development of American democratic ideas.

The book is an essential text for understanding how the ideological underpinnings of the revolution were formed. Its core arguments and organization center around several key concepts:

1. Central Thesis: A Revolution to Conserve

Rossiter's core argument is that the American Revolution was fundamentally a conservative movement. Rather than attempting to radically restructure society or import European radicalism, the colonists fought to conserve the democratic liberties, self-governance, and economic mobility they already enjoyed.

Independence became the only way to preserve these established rights against new British imperial policies.

2. Four Pillars of Colonial Consensus

Rossiter identifies four distinct features of the colonial experience that nurtured this consensus on political liberty:

Common British heritage: Colonists drew heavily on English common law, the Magna Carta, and their rights as British subjects.

Geographical distance: The vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean allowed for over a century of salutary neglect, fostering immense practical experience in self-government.

The frontier experience: The realities of taming a new continent bred an egalitarian and individualistic spirit.

Imperial conflicts: Clashes with the British Empire regarding colonial status slowly crystallized their ideological resistance.

3. The Philosophy of the Revolution

In this section, Rossiter outlines the major ideological components that the founders synthesized into their revolutionary philosophy. The political thought is deeply rooted in natural law and classical liberalism. The core tenets include:

The Social Contract: The idea that governments are created by the consent of the governed to protect life, liberty, and property.

Inalienable Rights: The belief that every individual has inherent rights that no government can legitimately strip away.

The Right to Rebel: The justification that if a governing body becomes tyrannical and breaches the social contract, the people have a moral and political duty to alter or abolish it.

https://www.amazon.com/Political-Thought-American-Revolution-Seedtime/dp/B0042PBDNC

Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution,
by Gordon S. Wood

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Liberty-Constitutionalism-American-Revolution/dp/0197546919

New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gordon S. Wood elucidates the debates over the founding documents of the United States, featuring a new afterword reflecting on the 250th anniversary of American independence.

The half century extending from the imperial crisis between Britain and its colonies in the 1760s to the early decades of the new republic of the United States was the greatest and most creative era of constitutionalism in American history, and perhaps in the world.

During these decades, Americans explored and debated all aspects of politics and constitutionalism--the nature of power, liberty, representation, rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government, sovereignty, judicial authority, and written constitutions. The results of these issues produced institutions that have lasted for over two centuries.

In this book, eminent historian Gordon S. Wood distills a lifetime of work on constitutional innovations during the Revolutionary era. In concise form, he illuminates critical events in the nation's founding, ranging from the imperial debate that led to the Declaration of Independence to the revolutionary state constitution making in 1776 and the creation of the Federal Constitution in 1787.

Among other topics, he discusses slavery and constitutionalism, the emergence of the judiciary as one of the major tripartite institutions of government, the demarcation between public and private, and the formation of states' rights. In a new afterword, he addresses issues of constitutionalism in light of the semiquincentennial in 2026.