Not Much of a War: How the Continental Army Outlasted Britain's Military Might
How can the small, rag-tag Continental army outlast the 18th century's most formidable military power? One important factor is that the British misunderstand what they are facing in this conflict, one of five battlefronts in which the British are en...
Not Much of a War: Securing Aid from Abroad
Historians characterize the Revolutionary War as an "embarrassing" military event with few notable battles. The failure of the British to crush the Continental army in the mid-Atlantic states combined with the stunning American victory at Saratoga t...
Not Much of a War: Mobilizing for War
The first order of business for the new government is recruiting and organizing an army. Many volunteers are disadvantaged men hoping to earn enough money to buy land or a business. Their term of service begins in the spring and ends in the fall at ...
Not Much of a War: Battles in New England and the Mid-Atlantic
During the first year of fighting, British forces attempt to crush each outbreak of rebellion as it occurs. They suffer major losses when they take on revolutionary forces at Breed's Hill in Boston, yet crush Washington's troops in New York. Each ti...
Pre-Revolutionary War Surge of Immigration
Historian and author Bernard Bailyn talks about the two major forces at work during the fifteen years preceding the American Revolution. "One, of course, was the constitutional struggle with Britain was building up," Professor Bailyn says. "But the ...
Meeting at Annapolis
Historian Peter Onuf talks about the meeting at Annapolis, convened to amend the Articles of Confederation. While those efforts failed, because not enough states attended and the agenda was too limited, the eventual result was better than anyone cou...
Eighteenth Century Migration to America
Historian and author Bernard Bailyn talks about eighteenth century migration to North America, which he describes as being very different from the migration of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in which immigrants from small villages or ...
Fueling the Abolition Movement
Historian and author Ira Berlin explains that the key event in the abolition of slavery was the Revolutionary War. "The ideology of the American Revolution--the notion that all men are created equal--is every corrosive to the institution of slavery,...
Not Much of a War: American Revolution--Supporters, Critics, and Disbelievers, The
Although rumors of impending conflict with Great Britain have been circulating for months, the actual outbreak of hostilities in 1775 finds the colonies unprepared for the challenges of armed conflict. The loosely formed confederation is less than o...