The negative liberty idea was forged by opponents, not supporters, of the American Revolution

Evidence

The story I tell has a twist. It suggests that the originators of the negative, purportedly modern idea of freedom as non-interference were not those who welcomed the American Revolution, and the bright new age that it seemed to announce, but rather those who opposed that revolution and sought to defend the interest of the British crown. Those who welcomed and defended the revolution were moved, on the contrary, by the republican conception of liberty as non-domination which the modernist idea eventually came to replace. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 119

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to the reader’s prior work on colonial ideology in A Mission to Civilize and on republicanism’s contested lineage; the ‘modernist idea’ of liberty being a Crown-side invention is a striking inversion worth comparing against those. — connects to: Modern liberty-as-noninterference originated among authoritarian writers opposing American independence — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 239; Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices. — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7; Classical liberals lacked the disposition to organize political movements for liberty — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 774
• QUESTION: Who exactly among the revolution’s opponents first articulated freedom purely as non-interference, and what political interest did that serve?

Broader Connections

• Modern liberty-as-noninterference originated among authoritarian writers opposing American independence #expands (0.98) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 239
• Negative liberty means being free from interference in one’s choices. #contradicts (0.75) — Frank Lovett, Republicanism, 7
• Classical liberals lacked the disposition to organize political movements for liberty #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 774