section_path: Effects of the revolution/Interpretations
section_name: Interpretations
paragraph_text: Interpretations
  
  Interpretations vary concerning the effect of the Revolution. Historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood, and Edmund Morgan view it as a unique and radical event which produced deep changes and had a profound effect on world affairs, such as an increasing belief in the principles of the Enlightenment. These were demonstrated by a leadership and government that espoused protection of natural rights, and a system of laws chosen by the people. John Murrin, by contrast, argues that the definition of "the people" at that time was mostly restricted to free men who passed a property qualification.
  
  Gordon Wood states:
  
  Edmund Morgan has argued that, in terms of long-term impact on American society and values: