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The Americans in the Revolutionary War era were not simple people dealing simply with an easy problem needing to be solved. Britain claimed the right to rule over its colonial subjects in North America, and King George III did not expect to be challenged on that right. The problem was a complex one for American colonists of British descent and it grew as one perceived injustice followed another and retractions of some taxes were merely replaced with others. Some Englishmen in government saw the colonists' point of view and understood their grievances but their voices were not strong enough in Parliament to diplomatically resolve the issues. Americans declared their independence and England went to war with its countrymen across the Atlantic. Textbooks tend to simplify events--their causes and outcomes--and the people involved. This is done for many reasons, among them lack of space in which to cram a century or more of American history. But there is more to the American Revolution than just the Boston Tea Party, Founding Fathers, 1776, Abigail Adams's plea to her husband to remember the ladies, and all men being created equal. We offer below some items--both recent and classic--that avoid the simplicity and dullness often inherent in textbook treatment of this pivotal, multi-year event for the America's people.
While our textbooks do an admirable job of portraying the patriot side in the American Revolution, they generally do a very poor job of presenting the history of the loyalists. And yet loyalists represented one third of the colonial population. To learn more about them, a great resource is The Loyalists of the American Revolution by Claude Halstead Van Tyne. What was Banastre Tarleton really like? Brutal Virtue: The Myth and Reality of Banastre Tarleton by Anthony Scotti. Tarleton’s British Legion, popularly known as the “Green Horse” or “Tarleton’s Legion,” was an extremely mobile military formation, consisting of both cavalry and light infantry. It participated in most of the major engagements fought in the Southern theater. Present-day Americans have an image of the dragoon leader as “Bloody Tarleton.” The author attempts to dispel that misconception by first introducing his readers to the myth-making process in American history and then providing objective background information on Tarleton’s early career and his command’s formation and structure. What was it like to be a part of the war effort? Letters, diaries, and other first-hand accounts provide insight to the past. Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment of the Continental Army, December 19, 1777-June 19, 1778, Volume 1 by Joseph Lee Boyle. This is the first in a series that presents the documents written by lesser-known officers and staff functionaries that have never been published, or were printed long ago and are no longer readily available. “Their Distress is Almost Intolerable” The Elias Boudinot Letterbook, 1777-1778 by Joseph Lee Boyle. Elias Boudinot, a prominent attorney in New Jersey, was appointed the first Commissary General of Prisoners by George Washington on April 1, 1777. Boudinot faced the task of bringing structure to the confusion that existed with respect to prisoners of war. As his letters show, his problems with prisoner management included trying to feed and clothe Americans held by the British. Unlike current protocols, which require the side holding prisoners to provide a certain standard of care, during the Revolutionary War each side was to provide food, clothing, and other aid to its own men while they were held by their adversary. Fanning’s Narrative: The Memoirs of Nathaniel Fanning. An Officer of the American Navy 1778-1783 by Nathaniel Fanning. This is the earliest account of the great sea fights during the Revolutionary War: Bon Homme Richard and Serapis, and it is the only one written by a midshipman, not a senior officer. American colonists were not the only ones leaving behind records of their experiences in the Revolutionary War. How did others react to the war? Enemy Views: The Revolutionary War as Recorded by the Hessian Participants compiled, edited, and with an introduction by Bruce E. Burgoyne; and with a foreword by John Gardner. This book presents in translation parts of the diaries, letters, and regimental records from 34 individual sources from five of the six German states that rented their armies to Great Britain. The American Revolution: As Described by British Writers and The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser by Elizabeth R. Miller. These newspaper abstracts, from January 1780 through September 1782, include extracts from letters written by such well-known men as George Washington, John Hancock, Lord Cornwallis, and Sir Henry Clinton; correspondents' observations on America; proclamations issued by Lafayette, Sir Henry Clinton, Cornwallis, and General Benedict Arnold; debates and discussions held in the House of Commons and House of Lords; dispatches on the war at sea; articles on historical wartime events; and more. |
