Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

and widely imbibed the writings of English libertarians, writings which inculcated
in them a healthy spirit of deep suspicion of the designs of all government—the
English government in particular—on their rights and liberties.
Consequently, when after midcentury the English, having deposed Walpole
and Newcastle and ousted the French from North America, determined to
reimpose their original designs for control, the Americans would not stand
for it. And the great conflict with the mother country got under way.
My intellectual debts for this volume are simply too numerous to mention,
especially since an historian must bring to bear not only his own discipline
but also his knowledge of economics, of political philosophy, and of mankind
in general. Here I would just like to mention, for his methodology of history,
Ludwig von Mises, especially his much neglected volume, Theory and History;
and Lord Acton, for his emphasis on the grievously overlooked moral
dimension. For his political philosophy and general outlook on American history,
Albert Jay Nock, particularly his Our Enemy the State.
As for my personal debts, I am happy to be more specific. This series of
volumes would never have been attempted, much less seen the light of day,
without the inspiration, encouragement, and support provided by Kenneth S.
Templeton, Jr., now of the Institute for Humane Studies, Menlo Park, California.
I hope that he won't be overly disappointed with these volumes. I am
grateful to the Foundation for Foreign Affairs, Chicago, for enabling me to
work full time on the volumes, and to Dr. David S. Collier of the Foundation
for his help and efficient administration. Others who have helped with ideas
and aid in various stages of the manuscript are Charles G. Koch and George
Pearson of Wichita, Kansas, and Robert D. Kephart of Human Events, Washington,
D.C.
To my first mentor in the field of American history, Joseph Dorfman, now
Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, I owe in particular the rigorous
training that is typical of that keen and thorough scholar.
But my greatest debt is to Leonard P. Liggio, of City College, CUNY,
whose truly phenomenal breadth of knowledge and insight into numerous
fields and areas of history are an inspiration to all who know him. Liggio's
help was indispensable in the writing of this volume, in particular his knowledge
of the European background.
Over the years in which this manuscript took shape, I was fortunate in
having several congenial typists—in particular, Willette Murphey Klausner of
Los Angeles, and the now distinguished intellectual historian and social philosopher,
Dr. Ronald Hamowy of the University of Alberta. I would particularly
like to thank Louise Williams of New York City for her heroic service
of typing the entire manuscript in its final form.
The responsibility for the final product is, of course, wholly my own.
February 1975
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MURRAY N. ROTHBARD