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American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution Of The People (2010)

by T.H. Breen(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0809075881 (ISBN13: 9780809075881)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Hill and Wang

review 1: There's a lot in here. Ever heard of the Suffolk Resolutions? They negated the law of the Crown about 2 years before the Declaration of Independence. How about The Crisis? The first best seller, preceded Common Sense by at least a year. Putnam's War? Thousands of men took up arms, women made ammunition, and marched to Boston on the rumor that it had been sacked by the English before there was a Continental Army. This book is about 1774 and 1775. It's about the local committees that formed to manage the revolution on a local level, the social pressures they placed on people to support Their Country, some of it not pretty, but with a universal commitment to be just. It's not about a group of elite thinkers and their profound and timeless quotes about oppression and ... moreliberty and the nature of freedom. It's about people who may have lacked the eloquence of those whom history has declared their leaders, but who had a fundamental understanding of the principles they were willing to fight and die for and who lead their leaders into the battle or be left behind. It's also about a powerful country thinking itself invincible. It's also about charity. Our revolution was founded on it. The insurgents took power from government by the simple act of Christian charity. Relief money was doled out by the Crown. The role of benefactor of the poor and suffering is a powerful role. Turns out when individuals and communities take on this role they undermine the government. It drags a bit in places. There are, perhaps, a few too many examples of the committees dealing with non-commitment and opposition, and donations to beleaguered Bostonians, but it's all forgivable because, well, it's all so cool.
review 2: The book is interesting; it's not about Jefferson, Madison, or Wahsington. It's about "middling folk" who were involved in the build up to the Revolution. It paints another side of the stories we all know.The downside is that in an attempt to be scholarly, the author (who is a scholar) proves many statements with actual cases. Not a bad idea, but he often tells five or six on each point where one or two would do. It reads slow but you do get a whole new feeling for common people caught in the Revolution. less

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