rights of citizens, liberty, in other words perfect babylonians to the bewildered van winkle. when asked we voted but he was federal federal or democrats, he could only stand and bewilder stupidity. now, this story, rip van winkle, became the most popular irving's many stories hear it for think 18th century americans appreciated the notion that the world had been transformed in a very short period of time. superficially, the leadership seemed disdained. george washington replaced george the third on a sign outside the tavern. but beneath the surface, everything was changed and that's a quote from the story. in a few short decades, america underwent, i think, a fantastic transformation. in politics, and society, and the culture. and i think most people wanted what had happened and who they were at the end of this. in the decades following the revolution. before the revolution, america had been a collection of desperate british colonies composed of some 2 million subjects, huddled along the atlantic coast, 3000 miles from the summit of civilization. european outpost of this peak