First published in 1781, this work of the Abbe Raynal (1713-69) is the English translation of the last volume of his widely known and influential Philosophy and Political History of the East and West Indies which first appeared in 1770. Raynal's work begins with a description of the distressed state of England in 1763 and her calls for help from the colonies in the build-up to the war. Written during the Revolution itself, the book speculates about the ending of the conflict in chapters entitled 'What ought to be the politics of the House of Bourbon, if victorious' and 'What idea should be formed of the thirteen united provinces'. Raynal's work was heavily criticised by, among others, Thomas Paine, who published A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal on the Affairs of North-America (also reissued in this series) in 1782, correcting what he perceived as Raynal's mistakes and false assumptions.

Appointed Major General by the Continental Congress in 1775, George Washington, the future President of the United States of America, was one of the most significant and influential witnesses to the American Revolutionary War (1775 1783). Published in England in 1795, twelve years after the end of the conflict, this two-volume collection of the letters he wrote to Congress during the war provides unique insights into both the military strategies employed and the evolving values that underpinned them. Opening in June 1775, Volume 1 leads readers through the first eighteen months of the conflict. Organized chronologically, the substantial body of material reproduced here reveals the thoughts of a man engaged in warfare, politics and the forging of an independent nation. As such, it promises to enlighten the 'reasoning philosophic reader, which wishes to explore the secret springs of action'.

American privateers played a significant role during the American War of Independence and the Anglo-American war of 1812, as the American regular navy was very small. Reinforcement by privateers sailing under the government's jurisdiction carrying Letters of Marque was essential, and in fact both sides made use of privateers, capturing each other's merchant ships as prizes. Many successful sailors began their careers as privateers before taking up commissions in the regular navy. The stories of some of these men are individually explored in this 1899 book by Edgar Stanton Maclay, who two years later was at the centre of a controversy arising from remarks in his History of the United States Navy. Maclay here includes accounts from sailors of all ranks about their experiences during the conflicts and as prisoners of war. The actions of some notorious British privateers are also documented in this fascinating work of maritime history.

First published in 1782, this response to Raynal's The Revolution of America (also reissued in this series) by Thomas Paine (1737-1809) has been eclipsed by Paine's other work and largely overlooked. Written a year after Raynal's account of the American Revolution appeared in English, Paine's 'corrections' run to nearly eighty pages. His main critique of Raynal is that his argument stresses political theory rather than actions in the real world, an approach that lacks practicality. Paine argues against Raynal's assertion that the American War of Independence erupted over a tax dispute, and downplays France's involvement in the movement for independence. However, while attacking Raynal's influential work, he does so diplomatically, believing that the Abbe was writing from too great a distance to assess accurately the causes and principles of the conflict. This book has been hailed by scholars as the first of Paine's publications to demonstrate his internationalist views.

Appointed Major General by the Continental Congress in 1775, George Washington, the future President of the United States of America, was one of the most significant and influential witnesses to the American Revolutionary War (1775 1783). Published in England in 1795, twelve years after the end of the conflict, this two-volume collection of the letters he wrote to Congress during the war provides unique insights into both the military strategies employed and the evolving values that underpinned them. Taking up the narrative in January 1777, Volume 2 demonstrates a gradual shift in emphasis away from an army in battle, hampered by the weather and the terrain, towards the political negotiations and nation-forging that followed. Ever humble in his tone, Washington displays the diplomacy and vision that was to characterize his presidency.

This documentary study of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton focuses on their differing views of society and government in the formative years of the new American nation. Interweaving more than 40 documents into 7 chronological chapters, the text follows the lives and careers of the two men from their youth, through the Revolutionary War, to the death of Hamilton in 1804. In each chapter, generous excerpts from their public papers and private letters reveal the two men's often divergent views on government and the Constitution, economic and foreign policy, and the military, and illustrate the roles they played in the emergence of political parties. Reading Jefferson's First Inaugural Address, the Report on Public Credit, the Kentucky Resolutions, and a host of other documents, students can explore firsthand the two men's philosophies and the impact these had on the emerging nation. Also included are 10 illustrations, a Jefferson/Hamilton chronology, a bibliography, and an index.

In the months following the May 1780 capture of Charleston, South Carolina, by combined British and loyalist forces, British soldiers arrested sixty-three paroled American prisoners and transported them to the borderland town of St. Augustine, East Florida--territory under British control since the French and Indian War. In Patriots in Exile, James Waring McCrady and C. L. Bragg chronicle the banishment of these elite southerners, the hardships endured by their families, and the plight of the enslaved men and women who accompanied them, as well as the motives of their British captors. McCrady and Bragg thoroughly examine the exile from the standpoint of the British who governed occupied Charleston, the families left behind, the armies in the field, the Continental Congress, and finally the Jacksonboro Assembly of January and February 1782. Using primary sources and archival materials, the authors develop biographical sketches of each exile and illuminate important facets of the American Revolution's southern theater. While they shared a common fate, the exiles were a diverse lot of tradesmen, artisans, prominent civilians, and military officers--among them three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Although they had clear socioeconomic differences, most were unrepentant patriots. In this first comprehensive examination and narrative history of these patriots, McCrady and Bragg reveal how the exiles navigated their new surroundings within the context of a revolutionary conflict that involved various imperial powers of the Old World--Britain, France, and Spain--and American colonists seeking to create an independent nation.

Discover the untold story of the vital role the Irish played in the American Revolution. George Washington changed the world and saved democracy by defeating the British during the American War of Independence. The Irish role in the American Revolution, the war for the ages, has never been correctly reported. Because many of the Irish who fought were poor and illiterate and left no memoirs, their stories and role have never been told. Until now. The Irish played a huge role in the American Revolution, not just on the battlefield but also in the field hospitals and in the framing of the Declaration of Independence. Learn the story of the famous spy Hercules Mulligan, who saved George Washington's life on two occasions and who was famously portrayed by Okieriete Onaodowan in Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit Hamilton. Discover the story of Edward Hoban, a carpenter from Ireland who Washington tasked with building the most famous residence in the world: the White House. Niall O'Dowd, author of Lincoln and the Irish and A New Ireland, takes readers on a journey into the unexplored contributions of the Irish in the American Revolution and behind the scenes of the relationships of some of those men and women with the first president of the United States. These unsung heroes of the American Revolution have never gotten their due, never had their story told, until now, in George Washington and the Irish.

New World Economies: The Growth of the Thirteen Colonies and Early Canada examines the economic development of both the original American colonies and early French Canada, looking at the impact of changing prices, capital flows, and shifts in demand. It is a companion volume to Marc Egnal's well-regarded earlier book, Divergent Paths, which emphasized the influence of culture and institutions upon growth. New World Economies studies transatlantic ties and sets forth a rigorous model to explain the pattern of growth. It features seventeen tables and more than one hundred graphs, many of which are based on original data. Several appendices present these valuable new statistics.
Egnal's core argument is that the pace of economic development in the colonies reflected the rate of growth in the mother country. In advancing this central notion, the book employs a theoretical foundation that builds upon, and then moves beyond, the traditional "staple thesis." Thoroughly documented and rich in quantitative data, this study traces the trajectory of economic growth by region and establishes a clear connection between colonial and European rates of growth.
Given its clear arguments, its rich data, and its persuasive overall method, New World Economies will interest scholars and students of economic history, of American and French-Canadian colonial culture, and of transatlantic relations during the eighteenth century.

In colonial America, the system of "warning out" was distinctive to New England, a way for a community to regulate those to whom it would extend welfare. Robert Love's Warnings animates this nearly forgotten aspect of colonial life, richly detailing the moral and legal basis of the practice and the religious and humanistic vision of those who enforced it. Historians Cornelia H. Dayton and Sharon V. Salinger follow one otherwise obscure town clerk, Robert Love, as he walked through Boston's streets to tell sojourners, "in His Majesty's Name," that they were warned to depart the town in fourteen days. This declaration meant not that newcomers literally had to leave, but that they could not claim legal settlement or rely on town poor relief. Warned youths and adults could reside, work, marry, or buy a house in the city. If they became needy, their relief was paid for by the province treasurer. Warning thus functioned as a registration system, encouraging the flow of labor and protecting town coffers. Between 1765 and 1774, Robert Love warned four thousand itinerants, including youthful migrant workers, demobilized British soldiers, recently exiled Acadians, and women following the redcoats who occupied Boston in 1768. Appointed warner at age sixty-eight owing to his unusual capacity for remembering faces, Love kept meticulous records of the sojourners he spoke to, including where they lodged and whether they were lame, ragged, drunk, impudent, homeless, or begging. Through these documents, Dayton and Salinger reconstruct the biographies of travelers, exploring why so many people were on the move throughout the British Atlantic and why they came to Boston. With a fresh interpretation of the role that warning played in Boston's civic structure and street life, Robert Love's Warnings reveals the complex legal, social, and political landscape of New England in the decade before the Revolution.

A synthesis of literary critical and historical methods, Porterfield's book combines insightful analysis of Puritan theological writings with detailed examinations of historical records showing the changing patterns of church membership and domestic life. She finds that by conflating marriage as a trope of grace with marriage as a social construct, Puritan ministers invested relationships between husbands and wives with religious meaning. Images of female piety represented the humility that Puritans believed led all Christians to self-control and, ultimately, to love. But while images of female piety were important for men primarily as aids to controlling aggression and ambition, they were primarily attractive to women as aids to exercising indirect influence over men and obtaining public recognition and status.

This work takes us beneath the veneer of the famous "Green Mountain Boys" to reveal the true story of how a hardened, quasi-commando army happened to be present in America's northern colonies at the start of the Revolution. Under their first dynamic commander, Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys indeed formed and fought against a larger, oppressive power-this was the Colony of New York, which repeatedly tried to make claim to Vermont land. Meantime Vermont itself was termed the"Hampshire Grants," and was considered to be a part of that similarly nebulous New England territory. The Vermonters would have little of it, however, even as British Canada also extended its covetous eye, and under Ethan Allen formed their own militia to combat encroachers from either side. Allen was not an innocent in the mix, and had his own agenda, including financial or landowning ones. But the spirit he and his men showed in defense of their isolated mountains has come to epitomize America's own spirit of independence against any untoward or unwanted regime. When the Revolution against Britain arrived, the Green Mountain Boys were one of the few organized, experienced combat units Washington could call on from the northeast. And they were immediately put to good use, seizing the British fortress at Ticonderoga and afterward helping to invade Canada. But in mid-1777 was declared the"Republic of Vermont," sending a signal to all comers that those rustic fighters didn't wish to be governed by anyone except themselves. Nevertheless, at the Battle of Hubbardton, and then Bennington, the Green Mountain Boys performed good service on behalf of the United Colonies. Eventually the Vermonters would be persuaded to join the new nation itself, even if, as this fascinating book proves, they never considered that path such an easy one.

The rapid expansion of the newspaper business in the first decade of the American republic had crucial consequences for cultural, commercial, and political life in the early United States, as the nation went from having dozens of weekly newspapers to hundreds. Before organized newsrooms and bureaus came on the scene, these fledgling publications were filled with content copied from other newspapers as well as letters, poems, religious tracts, and ribald anecdotes submitted by readers. Taking up the New Hampshire newspaper industry as its case study, American Intelligence unpacks the ways in which an unprecedented quantity of printed material was gathered, distributed, marketed, and consumed, as well as the strong influence that it had on the shaping of the American political imagination. Ben P. Lafferty also considers the lives of the printers themselves and asks why so many men chose to pursue such a fraught and turbulent profession. This snapshot resonates with the contemporary media-saturated and politically chaotic age.

This remarkable memoir is one of the most celebrated documents to emerge from the tumult of America s Revolutionary War. The ordinary and yet exceptional experiences of a young soldier in Washington s army are given a new life in this fourth edition, sensitively edited for a modern readership. * Classic primary source on the Revolutionary War * Edited by a leading US authority on the period * Now with extra maps and a more extensive bibliography * Includes a new Afterword by Karen Guenther on film portrayals of the continental soldier

When Common Sense was published in January 1776, it sold, by some estimates, a stunning 150,000 copies in the colonies. What exactly made this pamphlet so appealing? This is a question not only about the state of mind of Paine's audience, but also about the role of public opinion and debate, the function of the press, and the shape of political culture in the colonies.This Broadview edition of Paine's famous pamphlet attempts to reconstruct the context in which it appeared and to recapture the energy and passion of the dispute over the political future of the British colonies in North America. Included along with the text of Common Sense are some of the contemporary arguments for and against the Revolution by John Dickinson, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson; materials from the debate that followed the pamphlet's publication showing the difficulty of the choices facing the colonists; the Declaration of Independence; and the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776.

New England theologian Jonathan Edwards came to prominence at the culmination of a dramatic paradigm shift in millennialism that had begun in the sixteenth century, declaring that a thousand-year earthly kingdom would arrive in the future. For Edwards, the land of Israel would be the ideal location of the millennial kingdom, and the people of Israel, after their restoration, would play critical and decisive roles in the millennium's commencement. Edwards's millennial vision was also cosmic, however, and included both Europe and China. Unlike his Protestant predecessors and his Puritan contemporaries, Edwards's millennialism de-centralized England and New England. Contrary to what many have argued, Edwards neither originated nor advocated the notion of the American redeemer nation. In America's Theologian Beyond America, Victor Zhu establishes the coherence of Edwards's Judeo-centric and cosmic vision of the millennial kingdom and argues that this vision is an indispensable part of Edwards's theological system. He highlights three theological loci in Edwards's millennialism: the greatness of God's divine sovereignty, the magnificence of His glory, and the capaciousness of His kingdom. Zhu demonstrates Edwards's conviction of the progressive realization of the kingdom, refuting the prevailing misinterpretation that Edwards thought the millennium was imminent. He explores Edwards's cosmic vision of the millennial kingdom, which extended from New England and Israel to China and other parts of the "heathen" world. In conclusion, Zhu examines the contemporary relevance of Edwards's millennialism in Chinese millennial movements.

The Puritan Way of Death is more than a book about Puritans or about death. It is also about family, community, and identity in the modern world. Even before publication, eminent historians, sociologists, and religious scholars in the United States and Europea-among them, Gordon Wood, Philippe Aries, William Clebsch, and Robert Nisbet-hailed it as a "pathbreaking, provocative, and exciting" work, a "terse, urbane, learned, clear, humane" volume."

Known today chiefly for his surrender to the American forces at Saratoga, New York, in 1777, General John Burgoyne was one of the most interesting - and extraordinary - figures of the eighteenth century. In From the Battlefield to the Stage Norman Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign but also elements of Burgoyne's eventful life that have never been adequately explored. At the age of twenty-eight, Burgoyne eloped with Charlotte Stanley, the daughter of the immensely wealthy and influential Earl of Derby. Though initially furious, the earl, convinced of the young officer's good character, eventually forgave the couple, and the Stanley family became a major influence in Burgoyne's life and career. He was a socialite, welcome in London's fashionable drawing rooms, a high-stakes gambler in its elite clubs, and a playwright whose social comedies were successfully performed on the London stage. As a member of Parliament for thirty years, Burgoyne supported the rule of law, fought the corruption of the East India Company, and advocated religious tolerance. From the Battlefield to the Stage paints a vivid portrait of General John Burgoyne, remembering him not only for his role in one of Britain's worst military disasters but also as a brave, talented, humane man.

Homesickness today is dismissed as a sign of immaturity, what children feel at summer camp, but in the nineteenth century it was recognized as a powerful emotion. When gold miners in California heard the tune "Home, Sweet Home," they sobbed. When Civil War soldiers became homesick, army doctors sent them home, lest they die. Such images don't fit with our national mythology, which celebrates the restless individualism of colonists, explorers, pioneers, soldiers, and immigrants who supposedly left home and never looked back. Using letters, diaries, memoirs, medical records, and psychological studies, this wide-ranging book uncovers the profound pain felt by Americans on the move from the country's founding until the present day. Susan Matt shows how colonists in Jamestown longed for and often returned to England, African Americans during the Great Migration yearned for their Southern homes, and immigrants nursed memories of Sicily and Guadalajara and, even after years in America, frequently traveled home. These iconic symbols of the undaunted, forward-looking American spirit were often homesick, hesitant, and reluctant voyagers. National ideology and modern psychology obscure this truth, portraying movement as easy, but in fact Americans had to learn how to leave home, learn to be individualists. Even today, in a global society that prizes movement and that condemns homesickness as a childish emotion, colleges counsel young adults and their families on how to manage the transition away from home, suburbanites pine for their old neighborhoods, and companies take seriously the emotional toll borne by relocated executives and road warriors. In the age of helicopter parents and boomerang kids, and the new social networks that sustain connections across the miles, Americans continue to assert the significance of home ties. By highlighting how Americans reacted to moving farther and farther from their roots, Homesickness: An American History revises long-held assumptions about home, mobility, and our national identity.

Now in paperback--the award-winning National Geographic book that presents the untold story of the invisible war behind the American Revolution. A riveting tale of intrigue, spies, counterspies and secret agents, "George Washington, Spymaster"is a unique and entertaining account of one of the most important chapters in our nation's history. The compelling narrative reveals the surprising role played by the first commander-in-chief, General George Washington in the War of Independence.
Follow the action as 1775 dawns, and Washington finds himself in serious trouble. At war with Britain, the world's most powerful empire, his ragtag army possesses only a few muskets, some cannons, and no money. The Americans' only hope is to wage an invisible war--a war of spies, intelligence networks, and deception.
Enter the shadowy world of double agents, covert operations, codes and ciphers--a world so secret that America's spymaster himself doesn't know the identities of some of his agents. Meet members of the elusive Culper Ring, uncover a "mole" in the Sons of Liberty, and see how invisible ink and even a clothesline are used to send secret messages. You can even use Washington's own secret codebook, published here for the first time. Experience at close quarters the successes and failures of the Americans as they strive to outwit the British. Meet the chief of covert operations, one Benjamin Franklin, and several other surprising players in America's secret war.
Author Thomas B. Allen has sifted through dozens of historical documents and coded letters to uncover the facts about a time shrouded in secrets. Archival art, coupled with lively pen-and-ink sketches by children's illustrator Cheryl Harness, detail all the action and adventure of this momentous tale. Like the highly acclaimed hardback, this little paperback is sure to have a big impact on the imagination of readers everywhere.

The American Revolution is universally seen as a colossal defeat of the powerful British Empire by colonial rebels. Yet the British emerged from the conflict in better shape than the newly independent United States. After the revolution became a global conflict with the entry of France, Spain and later the Netherlands on the American side, Britain's desire to maintain prestige in Europe through dominance of her many colonies-particularly the West Indies and India-was the driving force behind British strategy. Military victories late in the war, along with retention of the rest of the empire, allowed Britain to remain a significant power. This history explores the view that Great Britain did not really "lose" the Revolutionary War.

Sojourner Truth's great contributions to the nineteenth-century abolitionist debate and the struggle for woman suffrage are extraordinary in both form and content. Far from excluding her from the discourse of politics, her illiteracy provided a foundation for the development of her ideology. She also proved to be adept at turning her audiences' beliefs and laws into justifications for her own unpopular views. Truth drew on a uniquely modern and secular source of authorization and empowerment - what she called "the deeds of my body" - and she is rightfully remembered, not only for her thoughtful and systematic attacks on inequality, but also for recognizing the coming crisis in the relationship between feminist and abolitionist factions. To this day Truth's legacy challenges deep-rooted historical beliefs about cultural ownership, about the qualifications for citizenship and suffrage, and about the role played by African American women in claiming those rights. Even a brief review of the stories of Truth's life shows why it is not surprising that she is more commonly thought of as a legendary than a public figure. There is considerable evidence that Truth and those around her used and cultivated her heroic image. Contradictions in the various life stories of this nineteenth-century freedwoman are therefore no less relevant to her success and influence than the limited information we can prove by consulting records of her participation in the abolition and woman suffrage movements. Recognizing this, Erlene Stetson and Linda David have embraced the uncertainty surrounding Isabella Bomefree's history to go beyond biography. The authors have traced not only the life, but also the lifework ofSojourner Truth, providing the reader with a context for Truth's own manipulations of language and fact, as well as those of her supporters, opponents, and even "unbiased" reporters of contemporary events. Stetson and David place the various sources for information about this legendary figure within the framework of individual perspective and agenda, often providing extraordinarily disparate accounts of Truth's voice and words. They identify parallels between Truth's various and contradictory recorded experiences and those of her family, friends, and captors, as well as those expected of her by her audiences. These methodologies offer both explanations and justifications for apparent contradictions in what is known about the woman who named herself Sojourner Truth. Glorying in Tribulation offers not only an excellent perspective on Sojourner Truth, but also considerable insight into how she has become one of the most influential and best-remembered activist orators of her time. This is the story of how one woman exploited her notoriety without sacrificing her principles, even when her goals came into conflict with such powerful historical icons as William Lloyd Garrison and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is also the remarkable tale of how one woman was continuously able to "rewrite" her own legend in order to leave a legacy of her choosing.

The role of African-Americans, most free but some enslaved, in the regiments of the Continental Army is not well-known, neither is the fact that relatively large numbers served in southern regiments and that the greatest number served alongside their white comrades in integrated units. The book begins by discussing for comparison inclusion and treatment of black Americans by the various Crown forces (particularly British and Loyalist commanders and military units). The next section discusses broadly black soldiers in the Continental Army, before delving into each state. Each state's section first looks at the Continental regiments in that state's contingent throughout the war, and then adds interesting black soldiers pension narratives or portions thereof. The premise is to leave the reader with some insights into the common soldiers' wartime experiences. The book ends with a look into what African-American veterans experienced post-war in their communities and home states. There have been no other book-length works that deal with the wartime experiences of black Continental soldiers in detail; additionally, the use of pension narratives of black soldiers to gain personal data and 'hear' them tell their own stories is relatively new, and compelling.

Americans have always put the past to political ends. The Union laid claim to the Revolution--so did the Confederacy. Civil rights leaders said they were the true sons of liberty--so did Southern segregationists. This book tells the story of the centuries-long struggle over the meaning of the nation's founding, including the battle waged by the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and evangelical Christians to "take back America."

Jill Lepore, Harvard historian and "New Yorker" staff writer, offers a careful and concerned look at American history according to the far right, from the "rant heard round the world," which launched the Tea Party, to the Texas School Board's adoption of a social-studies curriculum that teaches that the United States was established as a Christian nation. Along the way, she provides rare insight into the eighteenth-century struggle for independence--a history of the Revolution, from the archives. Lepore traces the roots of the far right's reactionary history to the bicentennial in the 1970s, when no one could agree on what story a divided nation should tell about its unruly beginnings. Behind the Tea Party's Revolution, she argues, lies a nostalgic and even heartbreaking yearning for an imagined past--a time less troubled by ambiguity, strife, and uncertainty--a yearning for an America that never was.

"The Whites of Their Eyes" reveals that the far right has embraced a narrative about America's founding that is not only a fable but is also, finally, a variety of fundamentalism--anti-intellectual, antihistorical, and dangerously antipluralist.

In a new afterword, Lepore addresses both the recent shift in Tea Party rhetoric from the Revolution to the Constitution and the diminished role of scholars as political commentators over the last half century of public debate.

"In this clearly written volume, Hawke provides enlightening and colorful descriptions of early Colonial Americans and debunks many widely held assumptions about 17th century settlers."--Publishers Weekly