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Jensen viewed the
American Revolution was "an internal revolution carried on by the masses of the people against the local aristocracy." His early scholarship challenged the "consensus" interpretation of the Constitutional ratification process, arguing that the
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were a better expression of genuine democratic values than was the
Constitution. The replacement of the Articles with the Constitution, Jensen argued, created a system of government that minimized the influence of radical democracy rooted in local politics.
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From his reading of the documentary evidence, Jensen identified deep ideological conflicts among
Americans at the time of the ratification. His later scholarship focused heavily on
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The
Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774-1781
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Stephen E. Patterson, "Interested
Parties: Merrill Jensen and the Documentary History of Ratification,"
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242:(launched in 1976 and completed in 1989 by his students Robert A. Becker and Gordon denBoer) and
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in 1944, his career was spent at his undergraduate and graduate alma maters. He was appointed
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The
Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
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The New Nation: A History of the United States during the
Confederation, 1781-1789
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upon graduating from high school. In 1929 he earned a bachelor's degree at the
249:(launched in 1976 and as of 5 June 2018 filling 29 of a projected 31 volumes).
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The
Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, Volume I, 1788-1790
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Born in Iowa, Jensen took a job as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in
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The
Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763-1776
238:, and he edited a number of substantial document collections, including
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He and his wife
Genevieve Margaret Privet had one daughter. He died in
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The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790
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154:, whose research and writing focused on the ratification of the
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The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution
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Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professors of American History
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United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
346:, edited with John P. Kaminski and Gaspare J. Saladino.
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Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of American History
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Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
423:"Center for the Study of the American Constitution"
198:. Except for a short stint as a historian for the
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323:Tracts of the American Revolution, 1763-1776
162:. Jensen was a professor of history at the
400:David S. Lovejoy, "Merrill Monroe Jensen,"
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411:Vol. 59, No. 3 (July 2002), pps. 776-786
462:University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty
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317:The Making of the American Constitution
482:United States Army Air Forces officers
467:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
334:(1976), edited with Robert A. Becker.
286:The American Revolution within America
261:(University of Wisconsin Press, 1940)
447:Historians of the American Revolution
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166:(1935–1944), where he was editor of
502:20th-century American male writers
288:(New York University Press, 1974)
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522:American male non-fiction writers
492:American people of Danish descent
497:20th-century American historians
457:University of Washington faculty
279:(Oxford University Press, 1968)
517:People from Shelby County, Iowa
452:Historians of the United States
409:The William and Mary Quarterly,
194:in 1934, under the guidance of
192:University of Wisconsin–Madison
190:. He completed a Ph.D. at the
172:University of Wisconsin–Madison
101:University of Wisconsin–Madison
19:For the American composer, see
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404:Vol. 92 (1980), pps. 140-143.
527:Military personnel from Iowa
309:English Historical Documents
146:– January 30, 1980 in
168:Pacific Northwest Quarterly
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156:United States Constitution
128:United States Constitution
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228:Articles of Confederation
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188:University of Washington
164:University of Washington
96:University of Washington
217:, on January 30, 1980.
302:Regionalism in America
196:William B. Hesseltine
140:Merrill Monroe Jensen
512:Historians from Iowa
386:allthingsliberty.com
375:allthingsliberty.com
126:ratification of the
82:Academic background
215:Madison, Wisconsin
150:) was an American
148:Madison, Wisconsin
142:(July 16, 1905 in
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16:American historian
364:www.goodreads.com
236:primary documents
208:Oxford University
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477:1980 deaths
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336:read online
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263:read online
441:Categories
351:References
170:, and the
115:Discipline
88:Alma mater
152:historian
325:(1967)
270:(1950)
118:history
428:29 Sep
319:(1964)
313:(1955)
304:(1951)
221:Views
430:2014
178:Life
72:, US
63:Died
57:, US
48:Born
206:at
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