High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The American Revolution marked a departure in the concept of popular sovereignty as it had been discussed and employed in the European historical context. With their Revolution, Americans substituted the sovereignty in the person of the English king, George III, with a collective sovereign—composed of the people. Henceforth, American revolutionaries by and large agreed and were committed to the principle that governments were legitimate only if they rested on popular sovereignty – that is, the sovereignty of the people. In 18th century American political thought, "the people" excluded most of the population, such as women, African Americans, those lacking sufficient property, Native Americans, and children.