How is radical defined in the book? According to Wood, why does history separate the founding fathers from other revolutionaries in history? How does Wood show that the founding fathers truly were radicals?

When American colonies first began to form, they were primarily small communities that consisted of members of the same or several families. How did this contribute to the formation of the paternalistic social structure that existed during America’s colonial period? What evidence does Wood present to show that this social structure was formed by necessity, and how much of it was influenced by the monarchy?

Why were common people were seen as unimportant to the national character in the colonial era? How did the horizontal hierarchy present in American society contribute to this point of view?