Movie Theater American Revolution

[johnnycat]

While watching a documentary on the American Revolution last night I realized that there was a ton of stuff that I don’t know about the American Revolution. We got the really basic stuff in school but nothing beyond that.

Maybe also I’m feeling a lot of frustration with government that the Founding Fathers felt.

For whatever reason, it has piqued my interest in the American Revolution. So...do you guys have any recommendations for good references?

Fire away - anything that covers the tensions that started the war, the major players, the battles, the cultural perspective. I probably need to start basic and go from there. It’s all food for thought.

 

[VP47PPC]

Two good books "1776" by David McCullough
& "Bunker Hill" by Nathaniel Philbrick

 

[MK20]

Look for ONLY original sources. Because of the justifiably strong original intent argument in court much if not most of the truth about this era has been erased and changed to prevent that argument from being wielded. Wallbuilders.com has some great online documents and sources. The Avalon Project and the Library of Congress are other good options with tons of online stuff.
One book that is excellent is the Life of Patrick Henry by Wirt. It is an original source and very easy to read. Very interesting. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is very entertaining. Anything by James Otis is also very good. If you look only for books you will limit yourself somewhat. The big thing in that day was speeches as a form of public communication. Look for those and you will find lots of them.

IN ALMOST NO CIRCUMSTANCE WOULD I TRUST ANYTHING POST 1900. Too much progressive influence in academia from this point onward.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

So Johnnycat had asked me this in a PM and I thought it was such an interesting question that everyone would like to think about some Revolution books. And I think there will be some great responses, such as the ones above already. Here is what I responded to him in PM. And I share with everyone here. The 'thoughts' apply to a lot of areas of history, BTW. Start high level... and easy. Then find your niche and drill down!

Cheers,

Sirhr

JC:

Thanks for asking!

For starters, a great series is the (former History Channel, when it did not suck) series The Revolution. 14 parts or so. Not a book substitute, but gives you an overview... and then lets you pick and choose where you want to focus, because the history is really amazing. And there are so many tendrils.

Second, start with one of my favorite fiction books of all time. Historical fiction. Which uses a handful of fictional characters to tell the story... brilliantly! Rabble in Arms, by Kenneth Roberts. It's a rollicking good read!

From there, I'd start with a very high-level book. Not academic, but a fun read and well-researched. Which is Bill O'Reilly's 'Killing England." Yes, its not an academic tome. And it is Bill O'Reilly. But he was a teacher before he was a TV commentator, and he tells the story well. It gives a good overview of the personalities and from there, you can pick where to drill down.

My favorite areas are the Northern battles (because they happened in my front yard... ) Saratoga, Lake Champlain... all the stuff in the Northeast. Saratoga by Rupert Furneaux is superb. As it documents the Gettysburg of the Revolution... if the Patriots had not won at Bemis Heights and Saratoga, the Revolution would have failed. Brilliant battle and so much stems out of it. Including the story of Benedict Arnold who, if he had been treated better, would probably be Americas Greatest Revolutionary Hero after Washington. He was made a traitor. He was not born one.

On that note, the book "The Man in the Mirror" will give good insight into Arnold.

I am also a big fan (go figger) of special warfare in the Revolution. Particularly Marion "the Swamp Fox" and Morgan's Riflemen.

Like I said.... you can go 100 directions on the Revolution. There are thousands of books. So start at a high level and when the book you are reading gets you to go "hmmmm bet there is more to that story"... there no doubt is! And several books on that particular thread in the sweater. Pull on it all you want, and great stories will unravel.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Look for ONLY original sources. Because of the justifiably strong original intent argument in court much if not most of the truth about this era has been erased and changed to prevent that argument from being wielded. Wallbuilders.com has some great online documents and sources. The Avalon Project and the Library of Congress are other good options with tons of online stuff.
One book that is excellent is the Life of Patrick Henry by Wirt. It is an original source and very easy to read. Very interesting. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is very entertaining. Anything by James Otis is also very good. If you look only for books you will limit yourself somewhat. The big thing in that day was speeches as a form of public communication. Look for those and you will find lots of them.

IN ALMOST NO CIRCUMSTANCE WOULD I TRUST ANYTHING POST 1900. Too much progressive influence in academia from this point onward.

Mk 20... some excellent points, but these apply mostly to the intent of the Revolution and to the framing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. And in that respect, you are 99.9 percent right on. Too much post-Wilson re-interpretation in that sliver of the Revolution.

That said, if you want to dig into the battles, tactics, the 'military history' of the Revolution as opposed to the political history, there are a lot of superb recent works and a lot of re-examination of the post-modern (ie. 1960's-generation hippie fruitbat histories)... that are really tearing these works to pieces.

There is a massive amount of Revolutionary history out there. And much of it very well done!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Thumper580]

Two good books "1776" by David McCullough
& "Bunker Hill" by Nathaniel Philbrick

Just finished 1776...it was really good.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Our family spent a lot of time in Boston, on Bear Mountain, at Jockey Hollow and Valley Forge, at Ticonderoga, in and around Yorktown (and Gettysburg) before our move West.

The best way to do history is to do it right there on the living ground, on your own two feet, with your own two eyes. Walk the battlefields, see where the lines stood and fought.

There is no substitute, except to do it all over again for the Civil War. Start that in Gettysburg, there's enough there for an entire lifetime's study, by itself (The Killer Angels, and Shaara's many other works of other wars including the Revolutionary.). Walk Pickett's charge when they let you.

Now that I'm in the Chiracahua Apache country, it starts all over... When they buried Cochise, they did it somewhere within sight of the end of my driveway, but nobody ever told anyone where; it was the Apache way.

Life is a mystery, and we are given so little time to unravel it.

Greg

 

[VP47PPC]

Now that I'm in the Chiracahua Apache country, it starts all over... When they buried Cochise, they did it somewhere within sight of the end of my driveway, but nobody ever told anyone where; it was the Apache way.

Then you might like to read "Apache Wars" by Paul Andrew Hutton. Very detailed and informative.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Thank you that, very much.

Greg

PS just bought the Kindle.

 

[Scarface26]

If you get a chance, check out a video called "Bringing back the Black Robed Regiment," a production of Dan Fisher, OK gubernatorial candidate. This goes into great detail about the role Christianity (specifically the clergy) played in the revolution. As you can imagine, it doesn't get much exposure, and is not everyone's cup of tea. God makes most people uncomfortable, but that doesn't make Him any less real.

A word of caution if you google the "black robed regiment" : make sure what you're looking for is the Dan Fisher video, not some of the tinfoil hat stuff.

God bless America

 

[johnnycat]

Ok, so this evening I finished Bill O'Reilly's Killing England - it is very general but a good over view of the major battles and personalities with a little of the politics thrown in. It's was a great place for me to start, but it really didn't touch on details. Now I'm interested in a couple smaller areas. I have a few more books ordered, so I will update along the way.

[To Be Continued...]

 

[johnnycat]

The quest to understand how a group of ordinary people shocked the world and defied the mightiest empire on the earth continues.

I watched part one of the History Channel series (for the record there appear to be two of those - a five part and a 13-part. The 13-part appears to be much better).

Then I read Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World which gave a great overview, with just the right amount of detail, of the events leading up to armed hostilities. My biggest critique of the book is that it starts in 1773 which is a little late to me. I wish the book had started with the end of French-Indian War and the Stamp Acts, which seems crucial to the overall picture. At any rate, it glosses over Stamp Act and Boston Massacre but quickly describes events as they happened, culminating in the march by the regulars to Concord.

I can see some similarities from their time to ours - the biggest issues being taxation without permission (in effect we have that now when a large portion of the population pays no taxes yet can vote for taxing the rest of us), and the threat of reducing freedoms to life as a serf, or virtual slave, to the crown/government.

A couple things I find striking are that most colonists did not initially desire independence and the overall restraint the colonists showed. Mititias formed and trained but did not attack - they were defensive only.

So, shots have been fired - time to dive into some regions, battles, and personalities!