LIBERTY IS SWEET

A thoroughgoing work of scholarship that debunks many myths about the American Revolution by incorporating the full story involving Native Americans, African Americans, and women as participants.

In his latest, Bancroft Prize–winning historian Holton, author of Unruly Americans (2007) and other acclaimed works of Revolutionary era history, delineates the story of the conflict in all its complexity, contradictions, and “multiple dimensions.” He begins with the lessons of the French and Indian War, when Britain chased France out of North America, during which arose interest groups focused on taxes, trade, territory, treasury notes, and other issues. It also taught the colonists, who were largely pro-British, the value of the land they were stealing from Indigenous peoples. Holton masterfully describes the slow process of accepting independence from the mother country. The poor embraced the idea of participation in a democracy more enthusiastically than the wealthy, who had reservations about rule by a rowdy commonwealth and fear of republicanism. White America was deeply divided and harbored a distinct fear of chaos and disorder, especially slave uprisings. In this “hidden history,” Holton emphasizes the crucial role of women in effecting a boycott of British goods and acting as spies for the rebels as well as fighting alongside husbands and other family members. He also highlights the contributions of Native Americans and African American troops. Through a painstaking, immensely readable chronological study, the author guides readers through specific elements of the war, including George Washington’s early mistakes and defensive actions, horrendous fighting conditions, disease, mutiny, treachery, and hard-fought victories. Then the author examines post-Revolutionary America, wracked by debt, recession, and a free Black population battling oppression, and the heady inclusive language of the Declaration of Independence and states’ constitutions, which contrasted with the reality of a system grounded in slavery. For its welcome exploration of often forgotten Revolutionary contributions, file this alongside Alan Taylor’s American Revolutions (2016) and Claudio Saunt’s West of the Revolution (2014).

A rich, multifaceted work showing how the U.S. has always been a multiracial nation.