The American Revolution’s charismatic figure was Thomas Payne, not George Washington, and I would say that it met the pattern. It was Thomas Payne who through the crisis papers and probable authorship of the declaration of independence itself convinced the thirteen colonies to change their goal from eventual reconciliation and settlement on good terms to establishing an Enlightenment state based on the protection of life, liberty and the persuit of property, and the elimination of absolutist tyrants. His personality was not fit for actual governance and played little part in post-revolution America. He was invited over to France where he helped instigate the French Revolution and became a member of parliment, although he was powerless to prevent or stop the horror that was unleashed there.
The American Revolution’s charismatic figure was Thomas Payne, not George Washington, and I would say that it met the pattern. It was Thomas Payne who through the crisis papers and probable authorship of the declaration of independence itself convinced the thirteen colonies to change their goal from eventual reconciliation and settlement on good terms to establishing an Enlightenment state based on the protection of life, liberty and the persuit of property, and the elimination of absolutist tyrants. His personality was not fit for actual governance and played little part in post-revolution America. He was invited over to France where he helped instigate the French Revolution and became a member of parliment, although he was powerless to prevent or stop the horror that was unleashed there.