SPOTLIGHTED BOOK - THE BRITISH ARE COMING: THE WAR FOR AMERICA, LEXINGTON TO PRINCETON, 1775-1777 (THE REVOLUTION TRILOGY #1) -ANCILLARY REFERENCE GLOSSARY - Spoiler Thread

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

This was the "glossary thread for the book - Washington, A Life by Ron Chernow. We will be adding this to The British are Coming folder to reuse some of this reference material for that read.

by Ron Chernow

by Rick Atkinson

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

This is the earliest authenticated portrait of George Washington. It shows him in the Virginia Regiment colonel’s uniform he wore during the French and Indian War. The painting hangs in the Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. It was painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1722. This is the earliest known depiction of Washington.

George Washington (February 22, 1732[1] – December 14, 1799) commanded the Continental Army in American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was the first President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country". His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.

Washington's military experience began in the French and Indian War with a commission as a major in the militia of the British Province of Virginia. In 1753 Washington was sent as an ambassador from the British crown to the French officials and Indians as far north as present-day Erie, Pennsylvania. The following year he led another expedition to the area to assist in the construction of a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before reaching that point, he and some of his men, accompanied by Indian allies, ambushed a French scouting party. Its leader was killed, although the exact circumstances of his death were disputed. This peacetime act of aggression is seen as one of the first military steps leading to the global Seven Years' War. The French responded by attacking fortifications Washington erected following the ambush, forcing his surrender. Released on parole, Washington and his troops returned to Virginia.

In 1755 he participated as a volunteer aide in the ill-fated expedition of General Edward Braddock, where he distinguished himself in the retreat following the climactic Battle of Monongahela. He served from 1755 until 1758 as colonel and commander of the Virginia Regiment, directing the provincial defenses against French and Indian raids and building the regiment into one of the best-trained provincial militias of the time. He led the regiment as part of the 1758 expedition of General John Forbes that successfully drove the French from Fort Duquesne, during which he and some of his companies were involved in a friendly fire incident. Unable to get a commission in the British Army, Washington then resigned from the provincial militia, married, and took up the life of a Virginia plantation owner.

Washington gained valuable military skills during the war, acquiring tactical, strategic, and logistical military experience. He also acquired important political skills in his dealings with the British military establishment and the provincial government. His military exploits, although they included some notable failures, made his military reputation in the colonies such that he became a natural selection as the commander in chief of the Continental Army following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. His successes in military and political spheres during that conflict led to his election as the first President of the United States of America.

Remainder of article: Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

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The Painter: Charles Willson Peale:


Charles Willson Peale, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Google Art Project)

The last half of eighteenth-century America was a turbulent period filled with social and political upheaval. Many political and military leaders offered a variety of solutions, but it was the daily discourse by the citizenry that ultimately decided whether a national spirit would exist and what its character would be.

Portraits and contemporary scenes of the Revolutionary War and its leaders, various farmsteads, and the region's developing cities were visual embodiments of the values and mores of the day. Charles Willson Peale—artist, Maryland native, radical patriot, inventor, and naturalist—was one figure who helped shape American self-perception. Peale was the first to provide authentic images of George Washington as well as other Revolutionary War heroes. Whether depicting a planter family or military leader, Peale captured accurate, straightforward likenesses of his subjects, posed within their own setting. His seven sittings during Washington's lifetime are at once an elegant record of Washington's professional growth as well as documentation of an emerging national spirit.

Reverend Jonathan Boucher, parson at St. Anne's Church in Annapolis and tutor of John Parke Custis, first informed Washington about the talented young Peale who was a local artist living in Annapolis. Peale accompanied Custis to Mount Vernon on May 18, 1772 and stayed a fortnight to paint miniatures of Martha Washington and her children, as well as an oil of George Washington in his Virginia militia uniform, reminiscent of his participation in the French and Indian War.

In the spring of 1776 Peale moved his family to Philadelphia where he immediately enlisted in the Pennsylvania militia. During the next several years Peale had the opportunity to personally observe General Washington in a variety of situations, including when Washington conferred with Congress in Philadelphia to discuss war strategy, during the Battle of Princeton where Peale himself was a participant, and while painting Washington during the tense hours at his Pennsylvania headquarters.

Peale painted likenesses of Washington in a variety of mediums, but one of the most renowned is his oil on canvas commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania on January 18, 1779, to be hung in the council chamber. Peale made several replicas of the highly successful 1779 painting with its fallen British and Hessian flags at Washington's feet and British prisoners marching past Nassau Hall. Peale's copies provided Europe with its first authentic likenesses of America's leader.

Peale's portraits of Washington from life showing the leader resigning from the military, as President of the Constitutional Convention, and as President of the United States were artistic successes but not financial ones during the economic uncertainties of the postwar period. Peale's portrait gallery of heroes was housed in his natural history museum, a project that increasingly absorbed much of his time. Washington was an annual subscriber to the museum and contributed two golden Chinese pheasants upon their demise, originally gifts to Washington from the Marquis de Lafayette.

Peale continued to be involved in civic and public art throughout his life, and his enthusiasm and ideals reflected the revolutionary generation of which he was a part. The fact that Peale's straightforward image of Washington was popularized by the public indicated the national character preferred by the populace and the leader they would choose in 1789.

Source and other interesting links:
http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-en...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

For those of you who would like some more facts on Mount Vernon - here is a wonderful link to their website:

http://www.mountvernon.org/george-was...

George Washington at 19

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

By the way:

President Obama honors five Pulitzer winners with National Humanities Medals



President Barack Obama will present National Humanities Medals to 12 people in a White House ceremony on Sept. 22. Recipients include a chef, a physician — and five Pulitzer Prize winners.

“Our understanding of ourselves, our history and our culture have been deepened and transformed by these extraordinary humanities medalists,” National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William Adams said.

The Pulitzer winners to be honored are:

Ron Chernow, 2011 Biography:
"For bringing our Nation’s story to life. Through his examination of America’s successful giants and titans, he also invites his readers to discover their failures and foibles, uncovering enduring lessons that inform our modern era."

Louise Gluck, 1993 Poetry:
"For giving lyrical expression to our inner conflicts. Her use of verse connects us to the myths of the ancients, the magic of the natural world, and the essence of who we are."

Wynton Marsalis, 1997 Music:
"For celebrating the traditions of jazz music from New Orleans to Lincoln Center and beyond. As a virtuoso trumpet player, composer, and educator, he has brought jazz to a wider audience and inspired music lovers to embrace America’s quintessential sound."

Louis Menand, 2002 History:
"For prose and essays that invite us to think in new ways about the forces shaping our society. His influential works of intellectual and cultural history probe the power of ideas from one era to the next as they ripple across politics and culture."

Isabel Wilkerson, 1994 Feature Writing:
"For championing the stories of an unsung history. Her masterful combination of intimate human narratives with broader societal trends allows us to measure the epic migration of a people by its vast impact on our Nation and on each individual life."

Others being honored by Obama are: author Rudolfo Anaya; chef and entrepreneur José Andrés; radio host and producer Terry Gross; author James McBride; historian and author Elaine Pagels; physician, professor and author Abraham Verghese, and the Prison University Project higher education program.

Each year, the NEH invites medalist nominations from individuals and organizations across the country. The National Council on the Humanities, NEH’s presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed advisory body, reviews the nominations and provides recommendations to the president, who selects the recipients.

Since 1996, when the first National Humanities Medal was given, 175 individuals have been honored, inclusive of this year’s recipients. Thirteen organizations have also received medals.

This year's awards ceremony will stream live at WH.gov/live.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

There are quite a few paintings worth discussing: I will place them here in the glossary as well as on the weekly discussion thread on the pages where they appear. `

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

This weekend I attended an event at Morven in Princeton, New Jersey and I was amazed at the history of the home and the exhibits.

Morven was built by John Stockton. John Stockton (1701-1758), was a wealthy landowner who helped bring to Princeton what would later become Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey and located in Elizabeth). He received the land from his father who purchased 5500 acres from William Penn and this was originally all of Princeton.

Ten years after its founding in 1746, the College moved to Princeton although it wouldn’t be officially named Princeton University until 1896. John Stockton donated the land for Princeton.

Richard Stockton, his son, and the grandson of the original land owner was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He also added on to the house. His wife was a poet and corresponded with George Washington.

Here is some information on the judge Richard Stockton:

http://www.dsdi1776.com/signers-by-st...

Their eldest son (nicknamed the Duke) was both in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate and both father and sons were graduates of Princeton. Subsequently, Morven became the home to descendants of the Stocktons and then five New Jersey governors (as the Governor's Mansion) and later the home was leased to Robert Wood Johnson (pharmaceuticals).

Currently one can see the Morven house and gardens and share in the history of the house as well as the Stockton family and their relationship to the founding fathers, the revolution and George Washington himself. There is also upstairs a wonderful exhibit going on about Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. An upcoming exhibit will be on Bruce Springsteen.

This is the Morven url:

http://morven.org



Here is some information on the house itself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morven_...

More:

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/the...

Poems Written to George Washington:

http://founders.archives.gov/document...

http://founders.archives.gov/document...

http://daysgoneby.me/morven-princeton...

http://www.stockton-law.com/genealogy...

If you are in the Princeton area it is worth a visit.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

John Jay, 1794

The classical column, crimson drapery, legal tome, and robes of state in this impressive portrait recall the "Grand Manner" tradition Stuart had used to emphasize the social status of British aristocrats.

As a framer of the Constitution and the first Chief Justice of the United States from 1789 to 1795, John Jay was the first American statesman of international reputation whom Stuart ever painted. The success of this likeness of the chief justice, painted in New York in 1794, introduced Stuart to an appreciative clientele in America.

The forty-nine-year-old Jay could spare time to pose only for the head. His nephew modeled the judicial robe so that Stuart could complete the body. Broadly painted strokes suggest the robe's gleaming scarlet, black, and white satin, setting off by contrast the careful execution of Jay's handsome features.

Stuart rendered Jay's complexion with deftly executed highlights in opaque paint on top of translucent glazes of thinned oils. Later the artist explained his methods for painting such lively skin tones: "Good flesh color partook of all colors, not mixed so as to combine in one tint, but shining through each other, like blood through natural skin."

Gilbert Stuart (artist)
American, 1755 - 1828
oil on canvas
overall: 131 x 102 cm (51 9/16 x 40 3/16 in.) framed: 164.5 x 135.9 x 11.1 cm (64 3/4 x 53 1/2 x 4 3/8 in.)
Gift (Partial and Promised) of the Jay Family
2009.132.1

About Gilbert Stuart:

BIOGRAPHY

Gilbert Stuart was the preeminent portraitist in Federal America. He combined a talent for recording likeness with an ability to interpret a sitter's personality or character in the choice of pose, color and style of clothing, and setting. He introduced to America the loose, brushy style used by many of the leading artists of late eighteenth century London. He recorded likenesses of lawyers, politicians, diplomats, native Americans, their wives and children. His sitters included many prominent Americans, among them the first five presidents, their advisors, families, and admirers. He is known especially for his numerous portraits of George Washington.

Born in 1755 in North Kingston, Rhode Island, Stuart was baptized with his name spelled "Stewart". His father, an immigrant Scot, built and operated a snuff mill that may have led to the artist's addiction to snuff. He grew up in the trading city of Newport, where itinerant Scottish portraitist Cosmo Alexander (1724-1772) gave him his earliest training in painting. He accompanied Alexander to Scotland in 1771, returning home at the older artist's death. Three years later in 1775, on the eve of the American Revolution, he went to London, where he worked for five years (1777-1782) as assistant to the Anglo-American painter Benjamin West. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1777 to 1785, using the name Gilbert Charles Stuart the first year. The success of The Skater (NGA 1950.18.1), painted in 1782, enabled him to establish his own business as a portrait painter. In 1786 Stuart married Charlotte Coates, and the following year they went to Dublin, where Stuart painted portraits of the Protestant ruling minority for over five years.

Stuart returned to the United States in 1793, planning to paint a portrait of George Washington that would establish his reputation in America. After about a year in New York City, he went to Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, with a letter of introduction to Washington from John Jay. He painted the president in the winter or early spring of 1795. He was not satisfied with his first life portrait of Washington, but others were. Martha Washington commissioned a second and Mrs. William Bingham commissioned two full-lengths. His success led immediately to many other commissions. His sitters were politically prominent and wealthy, from the merchant and landed classes. After Washington, D.C. became the new national capital, Stuart moved there in December of 1803, and this group continued as his patrons. There he painted the Madisons, Jefferson, the Thorntons, and others from Jefferson's administration.

In the summer of 1805 Stuart settled in Boston. In his Roxbury studio he continued to paint politically and socially prominent sitters and, on request, to make replicas of his second "Athenaeum" portrait of George Washington. Throughout his life younger artists, including John Trumbull, Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, and John Vanderlyn, sought his advice and imitated his work. Among his students were his children Charles Gilbert (1787-1813) and Jane (1812-1888). One indication of Stuart's popularity is the number of portraits he painted, over a thousand during his long career, excluding copies of the portraits of Washington. Another indication is the number of copies of his work that other artists made. His sitters indicated their fascination for his talent and personality by recording lengthy anecdotes and descriptions of their sittings, producing an unusally rich written record about an American portraitist. Stuart died in Boston in 1828. [This is an edited version of the artist's biography published, or to be published, in the NGA Systematic Catalogue]

Source: National Gallery of Art

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

PBS American Experience George Washington - The Man Who Wouldn't Be King

Youtube: 1992

https://youtu.be/HxeV76gcEgo

The sound is better in this youtube version but screen smaller:

https://youtu.be/2pnL9Emz8LI

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

American Revolution : Biography of George Washington | Full Documentary (from Biography)

https://youtu.be/qfHxfwgNejQ

Source: Youtube

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

George Washington - Full Documentary - The History Channel

https://youtu.be/thin1LeCrxY

Source: Youtube

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

George Washington - This was a mini series - 1984

Part One: George Washington | 1984 (Part 1)
https://youtu.be/TFtkxlMTnD0

Part Two: George Washington | 1984 (Part 2)
https://youtu.be/sWIMcNlyN3U

Part Three: George Washington | 1984 (Part 3)
https://youtu.be/e3v246u5ER4

Part Four: George Washington | 1984 (Part 4)
https://youtu.be/tIBevZNZKxw

Part Five: George Washington | 1984 (Part 5)
https://youtu.be/vMyZ91SXeXs

Part Six: George Washington | 1984 (Part 6)
https://youtu.be/N6mNsH5kNC0

Part Seven: George Washington | 1984 (Part 7)
https://youtu.be/iOxIgOL_NwQ

Part Eight: George Washington | 1984 (Part 8)
https://youtu.be/c5GvDNMehe0

Part Nine: George Washington | 1984 (Part 9)
https://youtu.be/LcFcu3GduD0

Part Ten: George Washington | 1984 (Part 10)
https://youtu.be/aulEpFcudZo

Part Eleven: George Washington | 1984 (Part 11)
https://youtu.be/LjgMkIVoT94

Part Twelve: George Washington | 1984 (Part 12)
https://youtu.be/1m2NqTPJUZI

Part Thirteen: George Washington | 1984 (Part 13)
https://youtu.be/aaJQ76Gql0g

Source: Youtube

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Another 1984 mini-series

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 1)
https://youtu.be/CIS60f5lj9E?list=PL2...

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 2)
https://youtu.be/fhkY25xfH9g?list=PL2...

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 3)
https://youtu.be/5XiKnKi-unw?list=PL2...

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 4)
https://youtu.be/BCi_85HaL34?list=PL2...

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 5)
https://youtu.be/2or3vMmM5Ag?list=PL2...

George Washington: Forging of a Nation (Part 6)
https://youtu.be/_98g_lanyXQ?list=PL2...

Source: Youtube

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Conversations at the Washington Library is a weekly podcast featuring discussions with scholars of George Washington and the colonial, Revolutionary, and founding eras of American history

http://www.mountvernon.org/library/po...

Source: Mount Vernon

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Distance Learning on George Washington and from Mount Vernon:

http://www.mountvernon.org/education/...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

George Washington - Lessons in Leadership - History Channel

Link on the Mount Vernon site:

http://www.mountvernon.org/video/watc...

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

The Mount Vernon Mansion

http://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate...

Source: Mount Vernon

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

The Prince Charles Tour

http://www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-...

Source; Mount Vernon

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

George Washington - Life in Brief

http://millercenter.org/president/bio...

Overview:
http://millercenter.org/president/was...

Source: The Miller Center at the University of Virginia

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Life Portrait of George Washington - In the first of a series of life portraits of American presidents, Mr. Smith and Mr. Rees discussed the life and career of George Washington. They further talked about the history of Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. Various rooms and quarters at Mount Vernon were shown. The guests also responded to telephone calls from viewers. Austen Blakesly was interviewed by telephone about why his middle school was named for President Washington.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?121783-...

Source: C-Span

[Pamela]

Two blogs with a tongue in cheek look at Mary Ball Washington, G.Washington's mother.

http://ploddingthroughthepresidents.b...

http://carlanthonyonline.com/2015/05/...

[Carol]

In the acknowledgements at the end of the book Chernow mentions that he was struck by accounts of Washington's trembling hands but decided not to include it in his writing. He enquired from several experts about the possible cause, but as they all opted for different conditions and the result was inconclusive, he refrained from commenting on it.
I watched a video the other day of the curator at, I believe, Mt Vernon, (might be wrong on that) who showed us Washington's dentures. She said that they were made of lead. (not the teeth obviously). I believe that lead poisoning causes trembling in the body and so I would think that this was a very likely cause of his problem.

[Carol]

I believe Chernow has made a mistake regarding the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line on Jan.1-10, '81, p.469. He writes that Wayne executed 12 men and that" no sooner was the Pennsylvania mutiny suppressed than the contagion spread to the New Jersey Line in Pompton." There is no doubt then that he was referring to the mutiny of January.
However, there were not 12 men executed by Wayne at this time. This occurred later at the mutiny at York of the Pennsylvania Line on May 22.
I have checked this with various sources and believe Chernow has confused the two mutinies.

[Pamela]

For an interesting account of exactly how GWashington got paid in the Revolutionary War, I recommend by George Washington and Marvin Kitman. It's an eye opener of what GWashington felt was necessary for conducting war.

[Glynn]

Found an interesting 4 part animation on YouTube, depicting the Battle of the Brandywine (depicted in chapter 25) This is the link to part 1 and if you let it play it will continue with parts 2-4: The Road to Brandywine

[Carol]

Glynn wrote: "Found an interesting 4 part animation on YouTube, depicting the Battle of the Brandywine (depicted in chapter 26) This is the link to part 1 and if you let it play it will continue with parts 2-4: ..."
Thank you Glynn. Will look at it with interest. Have just been reading Chester County Historical Society's account of Lafayette at Brandywine, published in 1896, when they dedicated a memorial to him on the battle site. I am always very grateful to modern technology for producing all these old books, which would otherwise be lost to us, so cheaply and easily.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Thank you all for the adds to the glossary

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Please fill free to comment on any of the historical entries and please feel free to add some yourself. Be sure to add the citations for books and authors.

Here is a sample book citation: (we add the bookcover, the word by, the author's photo and then the author's link)

by Rick Atkinson

Here is a sample author citation if you discuss any author: (we add the author's photo and then the author's link)

Rick Atkinson

[Carol]

Putting the book cover on is straightforward, but where do you find the author's photo?

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

There is the Mechanics of the Board thread which is very helpful:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It is in the help desk folder.

1. At the top of the message box - in green text - you should see add book/author.

2. Type your post normally and add the name of the book or author just as you would normally type text. Put your citations at the bottom of the message box.

3. Then click the green text which says add book/author.

4. Make sure that the dark line is highlighting the word Book at the top.

5. Then look to the bottom and click on the harvey ball which says cover and that will light up in blue

6. There will be a blank white rectangular box - fill it with the name of the title of the book. Let us use The British are Coming.

7. Click the word Search underneath the box and a list of books should pop up. Find the one you are looking for and click on the word add beside it. The following should be posted in your box.



8. The place your cursor right after the ending of the html after the last bracket and go over one space - type in the word by

by

9. Then place your cursor over one more blank space after the word by and then you go back into the add book/author area again by clicking on the green text - add book/author.

10. The same pop up window with your book will be displayed.

11. Now click on the word Author at the top so that the dark underlining is now under the word Author.

12. You will now have the list of authors for the book pop up.

13. Look to the bottom and click on the harvey ball which says photo - it will fill up with blue.

14. Find Rick Atkinson and click on the word add beside his photo and you will now have the html looking like this:

by

15. Position your cursor after the last bracket after you have added the author photo and now you are going back in again to add the book/author and you are going to add the link.

16. When you go back in - you will see the same pop up window - make sure at the top that your underline is under the word Author and now at the bottom click on the harvey ball that says link - then look for the same photo of Rick Atkinson and click add beside his photo - at that point the author's link is added and you will have the complete citation and it will look like this:

by Rick Atkinson

17. The entire process takes 2 or 3 seconds but typing out the directions for you to understand takes a few minutes (smile). You can always practice this on the Mechanics of the Board thread which is the Help Desk folder. At any stage of adding the complete citation - you can always click on the preview button which is in gray beside the post button at the bottom of the comment box and check to see what you have and correct it.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

George III inherited his throne in 1760 at age twenty-two, on the eve of Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War, which created the greatest empire the world had known since ancient Rome. As the American rebellion gained strength in the 1770s, he feared that loss of the colonies would lead to Britain’s fatal decline. “Blows,” he declared, “must decide.”

Source: Johan Joseph Zoffany, George III, oil on canvas, 1771. (Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Spotlighted Book - The British are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton

by Rick Atkinson

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy comes the extraordinary first volume of his new trilogy about the American Revolution

Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn and two other superb books about World War II, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first twenty-one months of America’s violent war for independence.

From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force. It is a gripping saga alive with astonishing characters: Henry Knox, the former bookseller with an uncanny understanding of artillery; Nathanael Greene, the blue-eyed bumpkin who becomes a brilliant battle captain; Benjamin Franklin, the self-made man who proves to be the wiliest of diplomats; George Washington, the commander in chief who learns the difficult art of leadership when the war seems all but lost. The story is also told from the British perspective, making the mortal conflict between the redcoats and the rebels all the more compelling.

Full of riveting details and untold stories, The British Are Coming is a tale of heroes and knaves, of sacrifice and blunder, of redemption and profound suffering. Rick Atkinson has given stirring new life to the first act of our country’s creation drama.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

The king’s four-day review of the British fleet at Portsmouth in June 1773 was the occasion for a grand celebration of national power. Here the royal barge, in the center foreground, passes the stern of the warship Royal Oak amid a thunderous salute.

Source: John Clevely, George III Reviewing the Fleet at Spithead, 22 June 1773, watercolor, 1773. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

A childhood friend of the king, Lord Frederick North became his prime minister in 1770 and would oversee the war against America despite misgivings about the cause. “Upon military matters I speak ignorantly,” he once confessed, “and therefore without effect.”

Source: John Russell, Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, oil on canvas, c. 1765-68. (Privatecollection/Bridgeman Images)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Source: Queen Charlotte (1744–1818) Johann Zoffany (1733–1810) (attributed to) The Holburne Museum

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

REVIEWS OF THE BRITISH ARE COMING

“To say that Atkinson can tell a story is like saying Sinatra can sing…. Historians of the American Revolution take note. Atkinson is coming. He brings with him a Tolstoyan view of war; that is, he presumes war can be understood only by recovering the experience of ordinary men and women caught in the crucible of orchestrated violence beyond their control or comprehension…. It is as if Ken Burns somehow gained access to a time machine, traveled back to the Revolutionary era, then captured historical scenes on film as they were happening…. The story he tells is designed to rescue the American Revolution from the sentimental stereotypes and bring it to life as an ugly, savage, often barbaric war…. A powerful new voice has been added to the dialogue about our origins as a people and a nation. It is difficult to imagine any reader putting this beguiling book down without a smile and a tear.” —JOSEPH J. ELLIS, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

“Mr. Atkinson’s book…is chock full of momentous events and larger-than-life characters. Perfect material for a storyteller as masterly as Mr. Atkinson…. Mr. Atkinson commands great powers of description…. On center stage are the battlefields, [which] are documented in stellar prose and 24 exquisite maps.… The narrative is the stuff of novels, [but] Mr. Atkinson’s facts are drawn from a wealth of manuscript and printed sources. He quotes aptly and with acumen…. Mr. Atkinson weaves it all together seamlessly, bringing us with him. Pithy character sketches—reminiscent of 18th-century historians David Hume and Edward Gibbon, both of whom Mr. Atkinson cites—bring the dead to life.” —THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“[Atkinson has a] felicity for turning history into literature…. One lesson of The British Are Coming is the history-shaping power of individuals exercising their agency together: the volition of those who shouldered muskets in opposition to an empire…. The more that Americans are reminded by Atkinson and other supreme practitioners of the historians’ craft that their nation was not made by flimsy people, the less likely it is to be flimsy.” —GEORGE F. WILL, THE WASHINGTON POST

“Atkinson…wastes no time reminding us of his considerable narrative talents…. His knowledge of military affairs shines in his reading of the sources…. For sheer dramatic intensity, swinging from the American catastrophes at Quebec and Fort Washington to the resounding and surprising successes at Trenton and Princeton, all told in a way equally deeply informed about British planning and responses, there are few better places to turn.” —THE WASHINGTON POST

“An epic tale, epically told. Atkinson excels at deftly summarizing personalities…. He moves effortlessly from the plans of commanders to the campfires of troops. The extraordinary scholarship involved—his meticulous endnotes cover 133 pages—is testament to a historian at the very top of his game…. The writing [is] incisive, humane, humorous, and often scintillating…. Anyone reading The British Are Coming will finish it looking forward impatiently to the next two. The trilogy looks fair to become the standard account of the war that brought the American Republic into being.” —ANDREW ROBERTS, CLAREMONT REVIEW OF BOOKS

“One of the best books written on the American War for Independence…. The reader finishes this volume uncertain of how either side can win this war, but very much wanting Atkinson to continue its telling."—ROBERT J. ALLISON, THE JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY

“[Atkinson’s] account promises to be as detailed a military history of the war as we will see in our lifetimes upon its completion…. Atkinson makes good use of information from letters and journals to give his reader a sense of what it would have been like to walk in the shoes of both the war’s illustrious and lesser known participants…. Atkinson’s accounts of battles are among the most lucid I’ve read…. Readers who enjoy richly detailed military history will be greatly anticipating his second volume.” —JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

“Atkinson takes his time, but there’s delight in all that detail…. Atkinson is a superb researcher, but more importantly a sublime writer. On occasion I reread sentences simply to feast on their elegance…. This is volume one of a planned trilogy. Atkinson will be a superb guide through the terrible years of killing ahead.” —THE TIMES (LONDON)

“The British Are Coming [is] a sweeping narrative which captures the spirit and the savagery of the times. Based on exhaustive research on both sides of the Atlantic, Atkinson displays a mastery of the English language as well as military tactics which puts him in a class of his own as a writer.” —LIONEL BARBER, EDITOR, FINANCIAL TIMES

“Rick Atkinson is emerging as America’s most talented military historian…. The British Are Coming is history written in a grand style and manner. It leaves one anxiously awaiting the next two volumes.”
—NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

“This first installment in Pulitzer-winning historian Atkinson’s new trilogy is a sweeping yet gritty American Revolutionary epic. With granular detail and refreshingly unfamiliar characterizations—an uncertain George Washington, a thoughtful King George III, a valiant Benedict Arnold—he makes an oft-told national origin story new again.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (ONE OF THE 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2019)

“This balanced, elegantly written, and massively researched volume is the first in a projected trilogy about the Revolutionary War…. Combining apt quotation (largely from correspondence) with flowing and precise original language, Atkinson describes military encounters that, though often unbearably grim, are evoked in vivid and image-laden terms…. Aided by fine and numerous maps, this is superb military and diplomatic history and represents storytelling on a grand scale.” —BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW)

“Atkinson (The Guns at Last Light, etc.) is a longtime master of the set piece: soldiers move into place, usually not quite understanding why, and are put into motion against each other to bloody result…. A sturdy, swift-moving contribution to the popular literature of the American Revolution.” —KIRKUS (STARRED REVIEW)

“This book is, in a word, fantastic. It offers all the qualities that we have come to expect from the author: deep and wide research, vivid detail, a blend of voices from common soldiers to commanders, blazing characterizations of the leading personalities within the conflict and a narrative that flows like a good novel…. The British Are Coming is a superb ode to the grit and everyday heroism that eventually won the war.” —BOOKPAGE (STARRED REVIEW)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

ABOUT RICK ATKINSON



Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author & Historian

Rick Atkinson is author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, the first volume of his intended Revolution Trilogy, a history of the American rebellion through 1783.

He is also author of the Liberation Trilogy, a narrative history of the liberation of Europe in World War II. The first volume, An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, received the Pulitzer Prize and was acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as “the best World War II battle narrative since Cornelius Ryan’s classics, The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far.” The second volume, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, drew praise from the New York Times as “a triumph of narrative history, elegantly written…and rooted in the sight and sounds of battle.” The final volume of the Liberation Trilogy, The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, published in May 2013, ranked #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Wall Street Journal called it “a magnificent book,” and the New York Times Book Review described it as “a tapestry of fabulous richness and complexity…The Liberation Trilogy is a monumental achievement.”

Atkinson is also the best-selling author of The Long Gray Line, a narrative saga about the West Point class of 1966, and Crusade, a narrative history of the Persian Gulf War. He also wrote In the Company of Soldiers, an account of his time with General David H. Petraeus and the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003; the New York Times Book Review called the book “the most intimate, vivid, and well-informed account yet published” about that war, and Newsweek cited it as one of the ten best books of 2004. He is the lead essayist in Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery, published by National Geographic in 2007.

Atkinson’s awards include the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for history; the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting; and the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for public service, awarded to the Washington Post for investigative articles directed and edited by Atkinson on shootings by District of Columbia police officers. He is winner of the 1989 George Polk Award for national reporting, the 2003 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award, the 2007 Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, the 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, the 2013 New York Military Affairs Symposium award for lifetime achievement, and the 2014 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement from the Society for Military History. In December 2015 he received the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, previously given to Saul Bellow, Toni Morrison, and David McCullough. Atkinson has served as the Gen. Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College, where he remains an adjunct faculty member. He is a Presidential Counselor at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, a member of the Society of American Historians, and an inductee in the Academy of Achievement, for which he also serves as a board member. He serves on the governing commission of the National Portrait Gallery.

Atkinson worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, and senior editor for two decades at the Washington Post. His last assignments were covering the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and writing about roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007. Previously he served as the assistant managing editor for investigations. Atkinson’s journalism career began at the Pittsburg (Kansas) Morning Sun in 1976; in 1977, he moved to the Kansas City Times, before going to the Washington Post in 1983. Among other assignments, he served as the Post’s Berlin bureau chief, covering not only Germany and NATO, but also spending considerable time in Somalia and Bosnia.

Born in Munich, Germany, Atkinson is the son of a U.S. Army officer and grew up on military posts. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from East Carolina University and a master of arts degree in English literature from the University of Chicago. He and his wife, Dr. Jane Chestnut Atkinson of Lawrence, Kansas, a researcher and clinician at the National Institutes of Health, live in the District of Columbia. They have two grown children, Rush, a criminal trial attorney for the Justice Department, and Sarah, a physician and colorectal surgery fellow at the University of Toronto.

by Rick Atkinson

[Andrea]

Bentley, what a fascinating biography! Thank you for informing us!
Regards,
Andrea

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

You are most welcome Andrea.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Atkinson talks about the Order of the Garter.


Arms of the Most Noble Order of the Garter





Then it was off to see those wooden walls. At one-thirty p.m., draped in a crimson boat cloak adorned with an enormous star of the Order of the Garter, George stepped aboard his ten-oar bargefor the three-mile trip to Spithead anchorage. A flotilla trailed in his wake, filled to the gunwales with nobility, gentry, and sea dogs in blue and braid; the procession included the venerable Fubbs—the word was slang for chubby—a yacht named for a favorite mistress of Charles II’s. A gentle June breeze riffled the sea, and in the clear sunshine five hundred vessels large and small could be seen all around: brigs, corvettes, wherries, schooners, frigates, sloops.

Link: http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/roya...

Sources: Atkinson, Rick. The British Are Coming (The Revolution Trilogy) (pp. 2-3). Henry Holt and Co.. Kindle Edition; English Monarchs

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Some Additional Background Info:


John Mix Stanley, artist's impression of how Pontiac may have looked, mid-1800s. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Pontiac"s Uprising:
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Uproar over the Stamp Act
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...


Political cartoon showing a mock funeral procession for the Stamp Act, 1766. Library of Congress

Practice - Prelude to the Revolution
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...


A newspaper posting of the Stamp Act, 1765.

Image credit: [Library of Congress] Link: (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/british/b...)

Discussion Thoughts and Questions (what do you think?)

1. What does the phrase “no taxation without representation” mean? Is it still relevant today?

2. Explain the theory of virtual representation in your own words. Was it valid?

3. Why did the colonists react so vehemently to the passage of the Stamp Act? How important do you think the Stamp Act was in the eventual outbreak of the American Revolution?

4. Why do you think the outcome of the French and Indian War was significant?

5. How did the British differ from the French in their relations with Native American tribes?

6. Do you sympathize with Pontiac? Was he a hero or a villain?

7. In your opinion, what was the most consequential result of Pontiac’s uprising?

More:

by Fred Anderson (no photo)

by William R. Nester (no photo)

by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

by Gregory Evans Dowd (no photo)

by C. Richard Middleton (no photo)

by Zachary McLeod (Hutchins (no photo)

by Edmund S. Morgan

Source: Khan Academy, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons

[Jerome, Assisting Moderator - Upcoming Books and Releases]

Bentley wrote: "Some Additional Background Info:


John Mix Stanley, artist's impression of how Pontiac may have looked, mid-1800s. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Pontiac"s Uprising:
https://www.khanacademy.org/..."

Regarding question 3, a lot of colonists hated the Stamp Act because they hated the idea that Parliament had any authority to tax them, since they had no representatives there.

Also, as a bit of an aside, the Stamp Act actually made the colonists' embargo on English goods more effective. When the act took effect, there weren't a lot of stamps or agents to administer and enforce the law. If you were a law-abiding merchant in London who was shipping goods to the colonies, you could face ruin, since payments couldn't be made without the proper stamps.

North America was an important market for British exports (this was one the causes of the Seven Years' War in the first place), and the Stamp Act, all of a sudden, disrupted that market. Unemployment in Britain and the trade recession explains why the Stamp Act was repealed so quickly.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Yes, the Brits shot themselves in the foot. The Seven Years War placed a great strain on the British economy. And that is why they were looking for multiple streams of income to plug up the deficits.

They figured that the colonists by pressing westward were causing angst among the Native Americans and rightly so but the Brits did not treat the Native Americans as well as the French had and the colonists were not terribly genteel either.

Wars are expensive and you would think that they would learn from their history.

As far as the colonists - they wanted a fair deal and I think that if they got representation - they might have paid more taxes and who knows we might have been all Brits today. But that did not happen.

And that part I think had to do with King George III and his foibles.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

"For many people in Colonial America, the Revolution was a transforming event. Artisans, poor farmers, women, and African-Americans, far removed from the seats of power, came to believe they were full participants in a struggle of sweeping historical significance. Countless journals, diaries, and letters document the metamorphosis of loyal colonial British subjects into either indignant Loyalists or independent American citizens. Although some people tried to remain neutral or uninvolved, local concerns usually convinced them to choose sides. When the war itself drew near, even the most steadfast individuals took an interest in the conflict. However, not every American became swept up in the Revolutionary struggle. Jemima Condict, the daughter of a middling Essex County farmer in northern New Jersey, lived within easy reach of the British Army stationed in New York.

Opposing armies marched through Essex County on numerous occasions, and British foraging parties placed Jemima’s home at the front line of the war. There were also siginificant personal reasons for the war to become a focal point of her attention. Her father Daniel was a private in the militia and later in the Continental Army, her uncle David was a Lieutenent Colonel in the Continental Army, and her cousin John was a militia surgeon. Her future husband, Aaron Harrison, was a militia private. Thus, physically, militarily, and emotionally, Jemima lived at the heart of the swirling tempest. Yet throughout the war, the events of the Revolution rarely held her full attention.

Jemima Condict was born on August 24, 1755 as the third of eight children. Her parents, Ruth and Daniel Condict, were middling people of Welsh descent, and her grandfather, Samuel Condict, had been instrumental in the founding of her northern New Jersey community. She regularly attended the local church and the settlement’s schoolhouse, where she studied the bible. Her faith became immensely important to her. When she was seventeen, Jemima took the unused portion of her school exercise book and began a journal. Her writings usually turned to passages of Scripture she had either read or heard, especially those in the weekly services of Mr. Chapman, the local minister.

Of particular concern to Jemima was her own vanity, and whether or not it was proper for first cousins to marry. She had fallen in love with her cousin Aaron Harrison, and at one point she asked her mother, Ruth, for her opinion on the matter. Her mother proved evasive, but Jemima was in earnest. She had become very agitated about whether such a union was forbidden by God. After pushing her mother for an answer, Ruth responded that “She had thought a great Deal about It & for her part Could Not see but that It was right.” As far as it being forbidden, “She did not think there wos such a Place In the Bible,” and “Said Likewise that she Did Not See what Ministers Should marry them for if twas.”

Occasionally the events of the Revolution would evoke a comment from Jemima.

Most of these passages concerned local events, though not all. In 1774, when radical agitation over the Tea Act had led to the non-importation agreements in the American mercantile community, Jemima commented that “It seems we have troublesome times a Coming for there is great Disturbance a Broad in the earth.” Of the cause however, she only understood that “it is tea,” and “So if they will Quarrel about such a trifling thing as that What must we expect But war & I think or least fear it will be so.”

Clearly, the Revolutionary movement had not politicized Jemima. Patriots were outraged over the Tea Act because it represented taxation without representation in Parliament; the commodity itself, while important in colonial America, was of secondary concern. Yet for Jemima, going to war over the price of tea in America seemed quite absurd.

Remainder of article: https://www.historyisfun.org/learn/le...

Source: Jamestown Settlement and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

More:
https://www.njstatelib.org/wp-content...
https://njwomenshistory.org/discover/...
http://inthewordsofwomen.com/?cat=437
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6...
https://books.google.com/books?id=h-6...
https://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey...
(no image) Weathering the Storm: Women of the American Revolution by Elizabeth Evans (no photo)
by Alfred Hoyt Bill (no photo)
by Margaret Morris (no photo)
by Barbara J. Mitnick (no photo)

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Scene in a London Street - John Collet, Scene in a London Street, oil on canvas, 1770. (Courtesy Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection)

The largest city in the Western world, London on the march toward war in the mid-1770s was much like London at peace—aggressive, vivid, and alive with animal spirits.

Source: Yale Center for British Art

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Some helpful links for background information from Khan Academy


Currier and Ives, Molly Pitcher in battle, print. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Boston Massacre

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Boston Tea Party

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Lexington and Concord

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

The Second Continental Congress

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

The Declaration of Independence

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Women in the American Revolution

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanitie...

Source: Khan Academy

Discussion Thoughts and Questions (what do you think?)

These are questions answered in the Khan Academy material as background info - so if you do not know the answers to these questions you might want to look at the above as you are reading this book and participating in the discussion of the book as a whole.

1. Why do you think the incident in March 1770 happened in Boston and not somewhere else?

2. In your opinion, was the Boston Massacre truly a massacre? Who do you think was at fault for the incident?

3. How important was the Boston Massacre in the events leading up to the American Revolution?

4. How would you describe British tax policies in the colonies?

5. How important do you think the Boston Tea Party was in the ultimate outbreak of war between Britain and its North American colonies?

6. Why do you think the British refused to back down in the face of opposition to its policies?

7. Was Britain’s divide-and-conquer strategy effective? Why was Boston singled out for punishment?

8. Why did Boston’s radicals refer to the Coercive Acts as the Intolerable Acts? Why couldn’t the legislation be tolerated?

9. What do you think was most significant about the First Continental Congress?

10. In your opinion, was the Battle of Lexington really a battle? Why was it so significant?

11. Do you think the confrontation at Lexington and Concord made war with Britain inevitable?

12. What role do you think spies might have played in shaping the course of the first military clash between the British army and the colonial militias?

13. In your opinion, what was the most important decision the Second Continental Congress made?

14. If you had been a delegate at the Congress, do you think you would have been a conservative or a radical? Why?

15. What was so significant about the Declaration of Independence?

16. What was so subversive about homespun?

17. In your opinion, what was the most important way that women contributed to the American Revolution?

18. How do you think women’s wartime service might have affected their view of gender roles in the post-revolutionary period?

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Atkinson wrote:



"Blows would decide, as the king had predicted. Yet no one could foresee that the American War of Independence would last 3,059 days.

Or that the struggle would be marked by more than 1,300 actions, mostly small and bloody, with a few large and bloody, plus 241 naval engagements in a theater initially bounded by the Atlantic seaboard, the St. Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico, before expanding to other lands and other waters.

Roughly a quarter million Americans would serve the cause in some military capacity. At least one in ten of them would die for that cause—25,674 deaths by one tally, as many as 35,800 by another.

Those deaths were divided with rough parity among battle, disease, and British prisons, a larger proportion of the American population to perish in any conflict other than the Civil War.

If many considered the war providential—ordained by God’s will and shaped by divine grace—certainly the outcome would also be determined by gutful soldiering, endurance, hard decisions (good and bad), and luck (good and bad).

The odds were heavily stacked against the Americans: no colonial rebellion had ever succeeded in casting off imperial shackles.

But, as Voltaire had observed, history is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up.

Source: Atkinson, Rick. The British Are Coming (The Revolution Trilogy) (pp. 25-26). Henry Holt and Co.. Kindle Edition.

Discussion Thoughts and Questions (what do you think?)

1. Hard to believe that 8 and 1/2 years were spent fighting the Revolutionary War. And at this time in our history - it was English colonists fighting British soldiers. What are your thoughts on the number of skirmishes and the death toll?

2. Were the British really able to govern "thirty separate colonies in the New World alone, with almost two thousand slave plantations growing sugarcane in the West Indies"?

3. Emigration from the British Isles, was higher that year than ever, and it had become “epidemical amongst the most useful of our people,” an official warned; in just fifteen years, 3 percent of Scotland’s population and almost as many Irish had bolted for the New World in what one Scot called “America madness.” Shouldn't the English have asked themselves why the most useful were bolting?

4. It is hard to believe that one in ten of the colonists perished in the American Revolutionary War. Would that kind of sacrifice be forthcoming nowadays?

5. Was part of the Brit's disparagement of the colonists was based upon the fact that "no colonial rebellion had ever succeeded in casting off imperial shackles". Was that why the colonists were so "underestimated"?

6. How many other readers here loved the Voltaire quote: "History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up." What was your impression of what the author was conveying with the use of this particular quotation?

6.Why did Sir Jeffrey Amherst (one of the few commanders who refused to fight the Americans) - and who had led North American forces against the French from 1758 to 1763 make their personal decision to not participate? Do you think they knew something that the King did not? Or were they just being sentimental due to friendships that they had made during the war?

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

One thing that I noticed is that many sources indicate that the war lasted seven years which would be 2555 days. Atkinson indicates that the war lasted 3,059 days which would be almost 8.5 years. Interesting. And some use the dates 1775–1783 as start and finish dates

More: (Overview of the American Revolutionary War - Video - well done) https://www.britannica.com/video/1950...

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica, Video - Civil War Trust

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Today in History: Port of Boston Act becomes law (1774)

John Robson looks at March 31 1774 when the Port of Boston Act became law, as part of a series of measures doubling down on the British government’s denial of basic English liberties to the English in Massachusetts by insisting on taxation without representation, limiting trial by jury and quartering troops in colonists’ homes.

Link: https://youtu.be/wBaDqmAagZk

Source: Youtube

[Jerome, Assisting Moderator - Upcoming Books and Releases]

Bentley wrote: "Atkinson wrote:



"Blows would decide, as the king had predicted. Yet no one could foresee that the American War of Independence would last 3,059 days.

Or that the struggle would be marked by mo..."

On the question of why Amherst refused to serve in America, Amherst himself doubted that the mission was possible, and some books I've read assert that Amherst sympathized with the Americans' position. He did agree to serve as a military adviser to the North ministry, though.

There were a lot of British officers who resigned their commissions in order to avoid fighting American colonists. The Howe brothers, Clinton, Burgoyne and Cornwallis also had some misgivings to deal with as they decided to seek active service.

That was one of the reasons the British negotiated for Hessian troops (and, unsuccessfully, for Russian ones) The war wasn't against a traditional enemy like the French, Spanish or Dutch (not yet, anyway), so a lot of Englishmen didn't want to take part in fighting other Englishmen if they had a choice in the matter.