A People's History of the American Revolution : How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence

The best single-volume history of the Revolution I have read.-Howard Zinn. The first major effort to tell the history of the American Revolution from the often overlooked standpoints of its everyday participants, A People's History of the American Revolution is a highly accessible narrative of the wartime experience that brings in the stories of previously marginalized voices: the common people, slave and free, who made up the majority in eighteenth-century America. This first volume in The New Press People's History Series skillfully weaves diaries, personal letters, and other long-overlooke. Read more... Abstract: The best single-volume history of the Revolution I have read.-Howard Zinn. The first major effort to tell the history of the American Revolution from the often overlooked standpoints of its everyday participants, A People's History of the American Revolution is a highly accessible narrative of the wartime experience that brings in the stories of previously marginalized voices: the common people, slave and free, who made up the majority in eighteenth-century America. This first volume in The New Press People's History Series skillfully weaves diaries, personal letters, and other long-overlooke Raphael explains the central purpose of his "people's history" thusly: "By uncovering the stories of farmers, artisans, and laborers, we discern how plain folk helped create a revolution strong enough to evict the British Empire from the thirteen colonies. And by digging deeper still, we learn how people with no political standing -- women, Native Americans, African Americans -- altered the shape of a war conceived by others." After carefully reconstructing the histories of all these groups, he concludes: "The story of our nation's founding, told so often from the perspective of the 'founding fathers,' will never ring true unless it can take some account of the Massachusetts farmers who closed the courts, the poor men and boys who fought the battles, the women who followed the troops, the loyalists who viewed themselves as rebels, the pacifists who refused to sign oaths of allegiance, the Native Americans who struggled for their own independence, the southern slaves who fled to the British, the northern slaves who negotiated their freedom by joining the Continental Army". Raphael's account rings true: these people made the American Revolution. - Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh. Upon its first publication in 2001 as the inaugural volume in The New Press People's History series, edited by the late Howard Zinn, Ray Raphael's magisterial A People's History of the American Revolution was hailed by Fresh Air as "relentlessly aggressive and unsentimental." With impeccable skill, Raphael presented a wide array of fascinating scholarship within a single volume, employing a bottom-up approach that has served as a revelation to thousands of Americans. A People's History of the American Revolution draws upon diaries, personal letters, and other Revolutionary-era treasures, weaving a thrilling, "you are there" narrative-"a tapestry that uses individual experiences to illustrate the larger stories" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). In the trademark style of Howard Zinn, Raphael shifts the focus away from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to the slaves they owned, the Indians they displaced, and the men and boys who did the fighting. This "remarkable perspective on a familiar part of American history" (Kirkus) helps us appreciate more fully the incredible diversity of the American Revolution by helping us see it through different sets of eyes The best single-volume history of the Revolution I have read. —Howard Zinn The first major effort to tell the history of the American Revolution from the often overlooked standpoints of its everyday participants, A People’s History of the American Revolution is a highly accessible narrative of the wartime experience that brings in the stories of previously marginalized voices: the common people, slave and free, who made up the majority in eighteenth-century America. This first volume in The New Press People’s History Series skillfully weaves diaries, personal letters, and other long-overlooked primary source material into the historical narrative. The result is a remarkable first-person perspective on the events leading up to and during the war. With a simple shift of the focus of history’s lens—away from Revolutionary leaders such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and on to the slaves they owned, the Indians they displaced, and the men and boys who did the fighting—author Ray Raphael brings us a true people’s history of the Revolutionary experience. Content: Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Series Preface by Howard Zinn Introduction 1. Rank-and-File Rebels Street Action A Shoemaker's Tale Country Rebellions Frontier Swagger Politics Out-of-Doors Yankees With Staves and Musick 2. Fighting Men and Boys The Spirit of '75 An American Crusade Forging an Army In the Face of the Enemy Cannons Roaring, Muskets Cracking Death or Victory Beasts of Prey Winter Soldiers Summer Soldiers Giting Thair Rights 3. Women Expectations A Duty We Owe Women and the Army Shaming Where God Can We Fly from Danger?