"But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the mind and hearts of the people."
Not the kind we see today. He was still a patriot and a founding father. He is rolling over in his grave right now. I mean Thomas Jefferson was an anti-federalist and also thought women had no place in politics and owned slaves. Not that I care, but let's not judge our ancestors by today's standards. Hillary Clinton and McCain are Federalists, not at all like John Adams.
John Adams was on the money early on and was one of the biggest driving forces behind the colonies declaring independence. During the same time Jefferson was apathetic and Franklin was riding the sidelines. Something changed with him when he was elected President but during the construct of the constitution he contributed a lot to the framework. Check out his Thoughts on Government 'pamplet' and you'd be hard pressed to tell if it was him or Rons ideas aside from the syntax and a couple of procedural changes in the diffrent branches.