Mansfield, Harvey C. “The Right of Revolution.” Daedalus, Vol. 105 (1976), pp. 151–162.

Excerpt:

“Somewhere amidst the uneasy self-congratulation of the American Bicentennial

there ought to be concern for the right of revolution?that principle by which and on
which this country was founded. How does it stand today? It has, first of all, nearly
disappeared as a subject of political discourse in America. The Declaration of Inde
pendence proclaimed both the right of revolution for all peoples and the independence
of one particular people. Their independence led to the formation of a republic owing its birth to that universal right. But instead of defending both the principle and its application, Americans today are falling back on the defensive. They divide themselves into liberals and conservatives, each conceding one point and clinging to the other: conservatives cling to the established republic, and do not maintain the right of revolution by which it was established; liberals maintain that right, but interpret it as meaning endless social change, even though this may eventually erode or destroy the republic thus established.”

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