The Bizarre Plot That Armed the American Revolution

Introduction In this interview: “What he doesn’t realize is that Bancroft is getting two salaries… one from Deane… and one from the British.” Watch this segment in the video below (00:24:59) Why did Benjamin Franklin send a Connecticut shopkeeper who spoke no French and had hardly traveled outside of Connecticut to France? How and why […]

Was the American Revolution an Immigrant Revolution?

Introduction In this interview: “No immigrants, no America.” Watch this segment in the video below (00:58:42) Wait… what? Wasn’t the American Revolution mainly an English colonial story? If not, then what role did immigrants actually play? And how many immigrants were even living in the colonies by 1775? Why were Germans taking loyalty oaths to […]

How Taverns Fueled the American Revolution

Introduction In this interview: “What role did taverns, and let me just add on pubs, play in the American Revolution? … I would argue they were perhaps the most fundamental spaces in the coming of the revolution.” Watch this segment in the video below (00:28:58). Taverns and pubs were among the central gathering places of […]

The American Revolution Didn’t Free Women—It Strengthened Slavery

Introduction “The main beneficiaries of the American Revolution were white male heads of household… At the point of the American Revolution, many of the main conditions that constrained women—across different groups—and that held promise for their future liberty, remained the same.” Watch this segment in the video below (1:10:37) A revolution for liberty—but not for […]

The Dutch Dilemma: Supporting the American Revolution

Introduction “Neutrality is emerging out of that. And in fact… what the Dutch want more than anything is to trade with the British and trade with the Americans.” Watch this segment in the video below (47:24)  The Dutch claimed to be neutral. But were they really? Could a country claim neutrality while smuggling tea, gunpowder, […]

Continental Soldier Citizens – America’s People’s Army

Introduction “That equated to roughly 20% of the male population. That’s the highest percentage in American history. World War II, 12%.”  Watch this segment in the video below (01:04:22).  Militias existed. Local defense existed. So why did the Continental Congress create the Continental Army—only to limit its power? What was this army actually fighting for? […]

Rethinking King George III: the American Revolution From the British Perspective

Introduction In this interview: “I think he’s having a real crisis of faith at that point, because we know that he will actually draft a letter of abdication, a letter of resignation to basically quit the royal family and go back to the German states where he was from.” Watch this section in the video […]

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

Introduction In this interview: “Well, here’s the mindset of the French government. Coming out of the defeat, the humiliating, crushing defeat of the Seven Years’ War, the dominant mood in the French government among, really, the movers and shakers of that country is, really simple, revenge, revenge, revenge on England…. And the United States, North […]

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

Introduction In this interview: “King George III asked Catherine to send her troops or Cossacks to North America to help suppress American uprising. And by the way, British propaganda already used the promise of coming Cossacks, you know, use this propaganda against colonists saying, you know, soon the Russians [are coming] and will suppress you.” […]

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

Introduction In this interview: “In fact, I would argue there’s probably no general or no officer in the army at the end of the Valley Forge encampment and possibly at the end of the revolution who is better recognized, better known by the soldiers than Stubin.” Watch this segment in the video below (00:54:35). Baron […]