American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804

561 Pages·2016·7.05 MB·English

by  Alan Taylor

“Pulling Down the Statue of George III, by the ‘Sons of Freedom,’” by Johannes A. Oertel, 1853. Upon
learning of the Declaration of Independence, a New York City crowd tore down the statue of King George
III on Bowling Green. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-2455).
For the Kelmans: Ari, Lesley, Jacob, Ben,
and especially
WYATT
And in memory of Caroline Cox
By what means, this great and important Alteration in
the religious, Moral, political and Social Character of
the People of thirteen Colonies, all distinct, unconnected
and independent of each other, was begun, pursued
and accomplished is surely interesting to Humanity to
investigate, and perpetuate to Posterity.
—JOHN ADAMS, 1818
CONTENTS
LIST OF MAPS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION
1. COLONIES
2. LAND
3. SLAVES
4. REBELS
5. ALLIES
6. LOYALTIES
7. WESTS
8. OCEANS
9. SHOCKS
10. REPUBLICS
11. PARTISANS
12. LEGACIES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHRONOLOGY
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
LIST OF MAPS
The North Atlantic, c. 1750
The Atlantic Seaboard, 1754
European Imperial Claims, North America, 1763
Northeastern North America, c. 1775
The Middle Atlantic Region, 1777
The Southern States, 1780
The Spanish-American Borderland, 1783
The West Indies, 1780
World War, 1775–1783
The United States, 1783
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
“Pulling Down the Statue of George III, by the ‘Sons of Freedom,’” by Johannes
A. Oertel, 1853.
“The Procession,” engraving by Elkanah Tisdale, 1795.
“A Representation of the Sugar-Cane and the Art of Making Sugar,” by John
Hinton, from the Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure (London,
1749).
“General Wolfe Killed at the Siege of Quebec, September 14, 1759,” engraving
by W. & J. Stratford, 1792.
“A View of a Saw Mill and Block House upon Fort Anne Creek,” by W. Lane,
1789.
“Portrait of Phyllis Wheatley,” engraving after Scipio Moorhead, 1773.
“Joseph Galloway,” etching by Max Rosenthal.
“His Excellency George Washington, Esq.,” engraving by Charles Willson
Peale, 1787.
“Sir William Howe, Knight of the Bath,” engraving by R. Faulder, 1780.
“Mr. Thomas Paine, Author of the Rights of Man,” engraving by George
Romney.
“Charles Lee, Esqr.—Major General of the Continental Army in America,”
engraving by C. Shepherd, 1775.
A sketch of four Continental army soldiers by Baron Ludwig von Closen.
“General Sir John Burgoyne,” engraving by Robert Pollard, 1778.
“Benedict Arnold,” by a British engraver, 1781.
“The Unfortunate Death of Major André,” engraving by John Goldar, 1783.
“A View of the Guard-House and Simsbury-Mines, Now Called Newgate—a
Prison for the Confinement of Loyalists in Connecticut,” engraving by J.
Bew, 1781.
“British Heroism,” engraving by Elkanah Tisdale, 1795.
“Lord Cornwallis,” engraving by John Fielding, 1786.
“General N[athanael] Greene,” engraving after a portrait by Charles Willson
Peale.
“Chief of the Little Osages,” engraving by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de
Saint-Mémin, c. 1804.
“Bernardo de Gálvez, Conde de Gálvez, 1746–1786,” by an unknown engraver.
“The Phoenix and the Rose Engaged by the Enemy’s Fire Ships and Galleys on
the 16 Aug. 1776,” engraving by Sir James Wallace, 1778.
“Le vaisseau le Languedoc rematé en pleine mer ainsi que le Marseillais . . . 17
Aoust 1778,” engraving by Pierre Ozanne.
“Count de Grasse, the French Admiral, Resigning His Sword to Admiral
Rodney,” British engraving by George Frederick Raymond, 1785.
“Governeer Morris Esqr., Member of Congress” [Gouverneur Morris],
engraving by Pierre Eugène du Simitière, 1783.
“Robert Morris,” by an unknown engraver after an original painting by Charles
Willson Peale.
“James Madison,” watercolor miniature by Charles Willson Peale, 1783.
“Alexander Hamilton,” by an unknown engraver.
“Federal Hall, N.Y. 1789—First Capitol of the United States,” engraving by
Amos Doolittle, 1790.
“Lt. Gnl. Toussaint-L’Ouverture, rettant au Gal anglais,” by an unknown
engraver.
“President Thomas Jefferson,” engraving by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de
Saint-Mémin, 1805.
“Chief Justice John Marshall,” engraving by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de
Saint-Mémin, 1808.
“Apotheosis of Washington,” engraving after John James Barralet, 1802.
“Abigail Adams,” engraving by Johnson, Wilson & Co. after an original portrait
by Gilbert Stuart.
“Barroom Dancing,” engraving by John Lewis Krimmel, c. 1820.
“Return from a Boarding School,” engraving by John Lewis Krimmel, from the
Analectic Magazine (November 1802).
“Iron Mask, Collar, Leg Shackles and Spurs Used to Restrict Slaves,” by an
unknown engraver, published in Thomas Branagan, The Penitential Tyrant
(New York: Samuel Wood, 1807).
AMERICAN
REVOLUTIONS