The second of Middlekauff's major theses is that the colonists were overmatched, militarily, and that the superiority of England's troops almost meant a victory for England. In many history books, the Revolutionary figures are portrayed as almost super-human, and their victory against England's forces is portrayed as almost divinely mandated. The reality was much uglier and more vivid, and Middlekauff goes into painstaking detail about those battles. While most know that England used hired troops to fight the Revolution, Middlekauff goes into an in-depth description of the hired Hessians and why they were considered such formidable foes. However, he also does a good job of explaining the advantages held by the colonists, including familiarity with the terrain, a guerrilla approach to warfare, and the determination to be free.
Middlekauff's approach to the book is that of a scholar. For example, while he attributes some part of the American victory to the determination to be free, he does not suggest that a colonial victory was inevitable. Instead, he painstakingly examines the causes of the war and the events during the war. This academic approach could actually be somewhat off-putting to the casual reader, especially the casual reader who has been weaned on the idea of American superiority. However, the academic approach is fantastic for a textbook. In many texts, some type of bias makes the material seem suspect. Middlekauff is careful to back-up any opinion that he states with supporting facts. While this may not eliminate all bias, it does help create a very even-handed approach to the...
..our troops behaved well, fighting with great spirit and bravery." Giving Washington too much credit would be a mistake, but he had a way of keeping his men on task. And yet, when Washington tried to get his troops to swear allegiance to the United States, "they refused...'New Jersey is our country!' they said stubbornly" (Bowen 7). Still, the relationships between the men who were outnumbered by the British was an
The dozen years prior to the Constitutional Convention was a period in which the "rich and wellborn" exerted considerable influence. These people consisted of merchants, bankers, and big landowners, and they had the power to make themselves heard and thus to press for their particular view of what shape the new nation should take. The U.S. was not the egalitarian society it has been painted to be but was instead
American Revolution: Competing for the Loyalty of the Colonists The American Revolution had many causes, both economic and social in nature. It had also been brewing for many years, ever since the conclusion of the Seven Years' War with the French, in which the British government closed settlement of the West to the colonists. In doing so, the Crown posted soldiers on the Western frontier to keep Americans out of it,
Glorious Cause: The American Revolution Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Robert Middlekauff, born in 1927 in Washington state, holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. from Yale. He saw active duty as a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in Korea from 1952-54. For most of his long career he has been a professor of history at
American Revolution History has shown that the form of government which emerged out of the American Revolution was by no means perfect, but to recognize this does not diminish the importance of what was achieved as a result of the Constitutional Convention. Instead, it allows one to appreciate the disruptive and groundbreaking nature of the compromise government established by the various delegates while realizing how much it represents a continuity with
In the end these early attempts at independent diplomacy, a radical notion in and of itself retained foreign aide from France, despite its early misgivings. This in a time that diplomatic aide to a rebellion would be seen as grounds for a new war the French recognized the Americans as an entity in need of aide and provided 1 Million livres for munitions for the Americans, in secret of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now