Why France Backed the American Revolution (And Got Nothing in Return)

In this interview: “And the United States, North America becomes a sideshow.” The American Revolution? Only one theater in a global war—and far from the main event. Geopolitical rivalry and revenge drove France to rally other powers against Britain. That transformed what started as a colonial rebellion in the Americas into a globe-spanning military conflict—a […]

Russian Neutrality in the American Revolution: Fear, Strategy, and Opportunity

“The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming!” No American Patriot ever shouted those words—but it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Imperial Russia and the American Revolution are rarely mentioned together. Yet one of Europe’s most powerful empires could not ignore a conflict that reshaped the Atlantic world. In this interview, we explore how […]

Steuben: How a Disgraced Prussian Volunteer Transformed America’s Struggling Army

Baron von Steuben in Valley Forge. We’ve all heard the story: a pedophile Prussian officer drilling the Continental Army in the coldest winter of the American Revolution. It’s a good story—except most of it is false, and the rest is only half true. First, his name was Baron de Steuben – not von Steuben (see […]

Native Americans in the American Revolution: The History We Didn’t Learn

Native Americans and the American Revolution When Americans learn about the Revolutionary War, the story is usually framed as a conflict between the British Empire and the Thirteen Colonies. But this perspective misses one of the biggest players in the war: Native Americans. Militarily, economically, and—most importantly—reluctantly, Native Americans played a pivotal role in the […]

Was the American Revolution a Civil War? Story of American Loyalists

The Revolution’s Most Misunderstood Americans Was the American Revolution a Civil War? The American Loyalists were not simply villains in someone else’s heroic story. Many believed in constitutional government, rights, and self-governance — just like the Patriots. What they rejected was armed rebellion. The Revolution forced neighbors, families, and entire communities to choose sides in […]

How Britain’s Imperial “Modernization” Shaped the American Revolution

Global Story of the Revolution What we often miss about the American Revolution is that it was a response to Britain’s empire-wide push for modernization—from India to Ireland, the Caribbean, and the colonies. The French and Indian War elevated Britain to unrivaled world power, but it also compelled the empire to overhaul its political, economic, […]

Thomas Paine to Obama: Why America’s “Original” Founder Still Matters Today

In this interview: “Paine knew this. He knew that he had to dissuade Americans from feeling any attachment to the king, to parliament, and to the idea of the British constitution.” Watch this section in the video below (00:04:56). From “Common Sense” to the “Crisis” papers, Thomas Paine challenged power and inequality. His writings were […]

How Thomas Paine Became Thomas Paine: The Origins of “Common Sense”

Thomas Paine arrived in America in late 1774 a relative unknown and in poor health, yet within months his words would resound across the colonies. In this episode of Analyzing American Revolution, Professor Harvey J. Kaye traces Paine’s remarkable transformation from an English artisan’s son into an influential political writer whose pamphlet Common Sense shaped […]

Concord’s Crisis: A Town Pushed to the Edge Long Before the Revolution

In this interview: “And they hold a muster and they don’t get enough people.” Watch this section in the video below (00:11:45). Concord, Massachusetts, on the eve of the American Revolution, was far from a small simple farming town. Beneath its seemingly quiet rural setting lay a community in social, political, generational and economic flux. […]

Boston Tea Party: Why China Mattered to the American Revolution

In this interview: “I should also say that part of what’s going on in the colonies, and part of what, you know, intersects with the revolution is that colonists are inveterate smugglers…” Watch this section in the video below (00:11:37). Most Americans don’t immediately link China to the Revolution—but trade with East Asia was intimately […]