Two American Revolutions

The new year brings the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of a successful political revolt against British rule. There was also a socio-economic revolution aiming to change the status of persons, change the economy including the ownership of land, and alter the role of organized religions. This revolution was only partially successful and will be the subject of a future column.

The political revolt and the war that made it succeed is well known to those who remember their U.S. history classes. In early 1776, the Continental Congress created a Continental Army and appointed George Washington commander in chief. In March, the army drove the British out of Boston, and in June, the Congress authorized Thomas Jefferson, advised by Ben Franklin and others, to write what became the Declaration of Independence. Congress deleted Jefferson’s condemnation of slavery and made a few minor changes then adopted the Declaration on July 4. It was printed and distributed in the 13 former colonies—now states—with a copy to King George III. 

The war dragged on until 1781 with each side having victories and defeats. The British chased Washington out of New York City and New Jersey in late 1776, but on Christmas night, Washington led his forces across the Delaware River and, in a surprise attack, took Trenton, N.J., killing or capturing its entire garrison. The victory encouraged patriots to join Washington’s army. (Pictured is the river crossing as depicted in Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 oil-on-canvas painting now in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Born in Germany, Leutze grew up in the U.S. then returned to Germany. He made two huge copies of the painting—12.4 feet by 21.2 feet—to inspire liberal reformers in Germany. The first was destroyed in a Bremen museum by Allied bombing during World War II.) 

In 1777, the patriots defeated and captured an entire British army at Saratoga, New York, which encouraged France to support the U.S. cause against France’s traditional enemy. A French fleet sailed to North America, and the Spanish, Dutch, and Swedes backed the U.S. The British, having no allies, found it necessary to defend their more profitable colonies in the Caribbean, India, and the Pacific. The American Revolution became a sideshow in the first global war.

In 1781, Washington trapped a British army in Yorktown, Virginia, and a British fleet sent to rescue them was defeated by the French navy in Chesapeake Bay. General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, and Britain turned its attention elsewhere. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris ceded to the United States the land north of Florida, south of Canada, and west to the Mississippi.

And what of Native Americans whose land it had long been? Most tribes foresaw that a newly independent nation would inevitably grow westward taking their land, so they sided with the British or tried to remain neutral. Joseph Brant, of the powerful Mohawk tribe, led 400 warriors and white Loyalists on a rampage through Pennsylvania and central New York killing settlers and burning homes and crops. Washington sent to the area an army that destroyed at least 40 evacuated Iroquois villages. White settlers promptly took the land.

After the war, Washington left public service and returned to his land at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, on the Potomac River. Not a great tactical general but a superb leader of men, Washington’s honesty, hard work, and courage made him a national hero. When the Constitution created a presidency in 1789, he was the obvious choice.

For us, an obvious choice is to watch the lively new Ken Burns, Sarah Botsein, and David Schmidt six-part PBS documentary “The American Revolution” which aired on KCPT-19 in December and will repeat on January 9, 10, and 11. PBS members can stream it on PBS Passport. It’s also available as a book.