Who Won the American Revolution?: Crash Course US History #7

Summary

This script from Crash Course U.S. History explores the American Revolution's dual nature, highlighting both its transformative and status-quo aspects. It discusses the war's strategies, key battles, and the varied experiences of soldiers, slaves, Native Americans, and women. The script emphasizes the Revolution's impact on ideas of liberty, equality, and the economy, and the hypocrisy of fighting for freedom while perpetuating slavery. It concludes by reflecting on the slow but significant changes in society's structure and the enduring influence of the Revolution's ideals.

Takeaways

• 😀 The American Revolution was a mix of change and continuity, with power shifting from British elites to American elites but not fundamentally altering the social structure.
• 🏰 The British strategy in the Revolutionary War focused on capturing cities, but the American forces, with advantages like local knowledge, held the countryside and ultimately prevailed.
• 🌟 The Battle of Saratoga was a pivotal moment for the American forces, marking a significant defeat for the British and influencing French support for the American cause.
• 🎭 The American victory at Yorktown in 1781, where British forces were trapped by French naval power, was a decisive event leading to the end of the war.
• 🤔 The script challenges the romanticized view of the Continental Army, highlighting the hardships faced by soldiers, including poor rations and unpaid wages.
• 👥 The Revolution was not a universally supported cause; some colonists fought for the British, while others, like the Quakers, faced property confiscation for refusing to participate.
• 🕊️ For slaves, the Revolution presented a complex situation where fighting for the British could potentially lead to freedom, with thousands taking up arms or fleeing to the British side.
• 🏞️ Native Americans were caught in the crossfire of the Revolution, often facing brutal treatment from American forces if they fought for the British.
• 👩 The status of women did not significantly improve post-Revolution, with the concept of 'Republican Motherhood' emerging to emphasize the importance of women's education for the republic's future.
• 📜 The Declaration of Independence encapsulates the revolutionary ideals of equality and inalienable rights, which would later influence broader societal changes, including expanded voting rights.
• 🏛️ The American Revolution laid the groundwork for religious freedom and the separation of church and state, a significant departure from the established churches of Europe.
• 🌾 The economic impact of the Revolution included a move away from indentured servitude and a growing divide between the North's paid labor economy and the South's reliance on slavery, which was reinforced by the invention of the cotton gin.

Q & A

What are the two types of revolutions mentioned in the script?

The two types of revolutions mentioned are those where things change and those where things remain the same, essentially a 360-degree turn that leaves you back where you started.

How did the French Revolution exemplify a revolution where things did not change significantly?

The French Revolution is cited as an example where things did not change significantly because they essentially exchanged a Bourbon ruler for a Bonaparte, indicating a change in leadership without substantial systemic transformation.

What is the significance of the American Revolution in terms of changing the leadership in the United States?

The American Revolution is significant because it transitioned the leadership from a group of rich white British elites to a group of rich white American elites, indicating a change in who was in power but not necessarily in the underlying power structures.

What was the main strategy of the British during the Revolutionary War?

The main strategy of the British was to capture all the major cities to force the colonists to surrender, leveraging their military strength to control key locations.

Why was the Battle of Saratoga considered more important than the Battle of Trenton in the North?

The Battle of Saratoga was more important because it was a major defeat for the British and led to French support for the American cause, which was crucial for the eventual American victory.

How did the American Revolution impact Native Americans?

The American Revolution impacted Native Americans by forcing them to choose sides, often leading to divisions within tribes, and resulting in brutal treatment for those who fought for the British, including the destruction of their villages and enslavement.

What was the role of the concept of 'Republican Motherhood' in the aftermath of the American Revolution?

The concept of 'Republican Motherhood' emphasized the importance of women's education so they could educate their sons in the principles of liberty and government, although it did not grant women political rights or property ownership.

How did the American Revolution affect the economy, particularly regarding labor practices?

The American Revolution led to a decline in apprenticeship and indentured servitude due to the new ideas of liberty. It also marked the beginning of a split between the North, which relied on paid labor, and the South, which relied on slavery.

What was the impact of the invention of the cotton gin on slavery in the United States?

The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney made it profitable to grow inferior American cotton, which reinvigorated slavery and led to an increase in the demand for slave labor in the South.

How did the American Revolution contribute to the rise of religious freedom in the United States?

With independence, the Church of England ceased to be the state religion, and the new American government began to embrace the idea of a 'wall of separation' between church and state, allowing for greater religious freedom and diversity.

What was the paradox presented by the American Revolution in terms of its ideals and the reality of slavery?

The paradox was that while the Revolution was based on ideals of liberty and equality, many of its leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, were slave owners, and the institution of slavery was not abolished but rather reinforced in some parts of the country.

Outlines

00:00

🏳️‍🌈 The Complexity of the American Revolution

The paragraph discusses the dual nature of revolutions, highlighting the American Revolution as a mix of both change and continuity. It emphasizes that despite the rhetoric of equality and freedom, the power dynamics remained largely with the wealthy white men. The War for Independence is briefly covered, noting the British strategy to capture cities and the American strategy to hold the countryside. Key battles like Trenton and Saratoga are mentioned, with a focus on their significance rather than detailed tactics. The paragraph also touches on the impact of the war on different groups, including the disillusionment of soldiers, the divided loyalties of colonists, the British promise of freedom to slaves, and the neutral stance of Native Americans, which was often ignored.

05:00

👩‍🎓 The Aftermath and Unresolved Issues of the Revolution

This paragraph delves into the aftermath of the American Revolution, addressing the limited gains for women, the continuation of slavery, and the economic changes that occurred. It points out that women's roles did not significantly evolve, and the concept of Republican Motherhood emerged, emphasizing the importance of women's education for the sake of their children. The paragraph also discusses the economic implications of the revolution, such as the decline in indentured servitude and the shift towards paid labor, which was more pronounced in the North. The invention of the cotton gin is noted as a factor that reinvigorated slavery in the South. Additionally, the paragraph covers the beginnings of religious freedom and the establishment of a separation between church and state.

10:02

🌟 The Revolutionary Ideas and Their Legacy

The final paragraph focuses on the enduring impact of the revolutionary ideas, particularly the concept of equality and the pursuit of liberty. It contrasts the American Revolution's emphasis on property and freedom with the reality of slavery and the hypocrisy of the founding fathers. The paragraph discusses the gradual abolition of slavery in the Northern states and the increase in the number of free black Americans. It also reflects on the novel idea of American equality, which challenged the European class system and inspired future revolutions. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging the American Revolution's role in fostering a global shift towards the belief in equal opportunity and respect for all individuals, regardless of birth.

Keywords

💡Revolution

A revolution, as mentioned in the script, is a fundamental change in political power or organizational structures. In the context of the video, it refers to the American Revolution, which was a pivotal event leading to the independence of the United States from British rule. The script explores whether the American Revolution truly brought about significant change or merely replaced one form of governance with another, as in the case of exchanging a Bourbon for a Bonaparte in the French Revolution.

💡War for Independence

The War for Independence, also known as the American Revolutionary War, is a central theme of the video. It was a conflict between Great Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies, which had declared themselves the independent United States of America. The video discusses the British strategy to capture cities and the American strategy to hold the countryside, highlighting key battles such as Trenton and Saratoga.

💡Continental Army

The Continental Army was the military force established by the thirteen colonies to fight against the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. The script notes that while the Continental Army is often celebrated as a brave and effective fighting force, morale was often low among its soldiers due to poor rations and unpaid wages.

💡Saratoga

The Battle of Saratoga is highlighted in the script as a major defeat for the British and a turning point in the American Revolutionary War. It demonstrated the potential of the Continental Army and is often cited as an example of superior military tactics, although the script suggests that British losses were also due to poor generalship.

💡Yorktown

The Siege of Yorktown in 1781 is noted in the script as the key battle in the southern theater of the war, where British General Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending the military phase of the American Revolution. The script humorously points out Cornwallis's tactical error of stationing troops on a peninsula surrounded by water filled with French ships.

💡Republican Motherhood

Republican Motherhood is a concept introduced in the script that emphasized the importance of women's roles in educating the next generation of citizens. It argued for the education of women so they could teach their children about liberty and government, even though they were not granted political rights such as voting or owning property.

💡Religious Freedom

Religious freedom is discussed as a significant outcome of the American Revolution. With independence, the Church of England's influence ended, and the new United States began to establish a separation of church and state, allowing for a diversity of religious beliefs and practices.

💡Economic Impact

The economic impact of the American Revolution is touched upon in the script, particularly the decline in indentured servitude and the shift towards paid labor, except in the South where slavery persisted. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney is noted as a technological innovation that reinvigorated the institution of slavery.

💡Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is a recurring theme in the script, especially in relation to the ownership of slaves by the founding fathers who proclaimed 'all men are created equal.' The script points out the irony of colonists fighting for their own freedom while denying it to others.

💡Equality

Equality is a core concept in the script, particularly in the context of the Declaration of Independence and the idea that all people are created equal. The video discusses how this idea was revolutionary at the time and how it contrasted with the existing class structures in Europe, introducing a new concept of social mobility and respect for all individuals regardless of birth.

Highlights

Revolution is a 360-degree turn, often leading back to the starting point, as seen in the French Revolution where power shifted from a Bourbon to a Bonaparte.

The American Revolution was a mix of change and continuity, with the power still in the hands of rich white men but now within a new nation that invented baseball, the Model T, and competitive eating.

The rhetoric of the American Revolution, despite not fully living up to its ideals, was powerful and influential.

The British strategy in the Revolutionary War focused on capturing cities, but the American advantage in the countryside was crucial.

The Battle of Trenton was a significant victory for the Americans, demonstrating the importance of surprise tactics.

The Battle of Saratoga was pivotal due to British defeat and poor generalship, influencing French support for the American cause.

The British suffered from guerrilla tactics and smaller scale losses in the South, culminating in the surrender at Yorktown.

Morale among Continental soldiers was low due to poor rations and unpaid wages, contrasting the romanticized view of the war.

Many colonists fought with the British, and pacifists like the Quakers faced property confiscation for refusing to fight.

For slaves, the promise of freedom from the British was a stark contrast to the fight for independence led by Continental soldiers.

Native Americans were caught in the crossfire of the war, with some tribes divided in their allegiances and facing brutal retaliation.

The idea of Republican Motherhood emerged, emphasizing the importance of women's education for the republic's survival.

The American Revolution introduced the concept of equality in a new light, challenging the class systems of Europe.

Religious freedom was a significant outcome of the Revolution, with the Church of England ceasing to be the state religion.

Economic changes post-Revolution included a decline in indentured servitude and a shift towards paid labor, except in the South where slavery persisted.

The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney had unintended consequences, making cotton profitable and thus reinvigorating slavery.

The Declaration of Independence's famous phrase about all men being created equal introduced the idea of equality and inalienable rights.

The American Revolution's impact on slavery was complex, with some Founders owning slaves while advocating for freedom.

The idea of liberty was linked to property, creating a paradox for a revolution aimed at securing property rights while also fighting for freedom.

Protests against slavery were frequent, and the northern states gradually abolished slavery, though the process was slow and cautious.

The number of free people of color in the U.S. increased significantly after the Revolution, reflecting a gradual societal change.

The American Revolution introduced the novel idea of American equality, challenging the notion of birthright superiority and promoting respect for all individuals.

Transcripts

Hi, I’m John Green; this is Crash Course U.S. History.

There are two kinds of revolutions: those where things DO change and those where things don’t change.

Like, not to get all Crash Course Mathematics on you or anything, but a Revolution is a 360 degree turn, which leaves you back where you started.

That’s what happened with the French Revolution, basically they just exchanged a Bourbon for a Bonaparte.

What? I don’t have to say it all French-y. This is American history.

And shut up French people about how if it weren’t for your support in the American Revolution, this would be the History of Southern Canada.

But other revolutions, like the Industrial Revolution, actually change things.

So, which was the American Revolution?

Well, little of column A, little of Column B.

Mr. Green, Mr. Green! Yeah, we went from a bunch of rich white guys running the show all the way to a bunch of rich white guys running the show.

You’re not wrong, Me from the Past.

But the 1700s were a pretty good century for rich white guys everywhere.

I mean, they were running the show in Holland and Portugal and Spain, but only the United States became the country that invented baseball, the Model T, and competitive eating.

So you’re right, Me from the Past, but even if the US didn’t live up to its rhetoric, that rhetoric was still powerful.

And in the end whether you care more about ideas or policy defines whether you think the American Revolution really was Revolutionary.

[Theme Music]

All right, let’s start with the War for Independence.

If you’ve been watching Crash Course, you’ll know that we’re not big on gratuitous war details.

But we’re obligated to tell you something about it.

The main strategy of the British in the Revolutionary war was to capture all the cities and force the colonists to surrender.

And the first part of that strategy pretty much worked.

They captured Boston and New York and Charleston, but all the colonists had to do was NOT QUIT.

I mean, they had home-field advantage, knowledge of the terrain, easier supply lines, and Mr. Creepy Eyes down here.

So while the British took the cities, the Americans, or Continentals, held onto the countryside.

The most famous battle of the war was probably the battle of Trenton, where Washington was like,

“I’m gonna cross the Delaware on Christmas morning.”

He had a funny voice. Everybody knows he had a funny voice. It’s famous.

That’s a made up fact! Don’t put it on your AP test.

“What do I know about Washington? Well, I know he had a funny voice.”

Washington surprised a bunch of Hessians, which was a pretty impressive victory especially since he had just come off of a string of defeats.

But he wasn’t able to turn it into an all out rout, and ended up having to spend a miserable winter at Valley Forge.

But remember, generals always get to eat.

But the most important battle, at least in the North, was not Trenton, but Saratoga.

This was a major defeat for the British, and while it’s often put forth as an example of the superiority of the Continental fighting man, the British mostly lost because of terrible generalling.

The French would eventually bankrupt themselves helping us, which would lead to their own Revolution.

As thanks, we named our most important food after them.

In the South the country-city trend continued with the British taking Charleston but then continuing to lose smaller scale battles and be harassed by guerrilla style tactics.

The key battle of the war in the south – because it was the one where the British surrendered – was at Yorktown in 1781.

Lord Cornwallis made the brilliant tactical decision to station his troops on a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water filled with French ships, and the British lost the war.

So what did this all mean for actual people?

Well, Americans like to think that we all pitched in together and got rid of British tyranny, and lived happily ever after.

Also that the Continental army was the bravest, most loyal, and most effective fighting force in human history thanks to the leadership of George Washington.

[Patriotic Rock Music]

But actually, well, yeah, let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

Morale among continental soldiers was often pretty low.

Rations were poor and soldiers went unpaid.

As Joseph Plumb Martin, a soldier from Connecticut, wrote, they felt they were,

“starving in detail for an ungrateful people who did not care what became of us.”

And many other colonists didn’t fight for independence; they fought with the British.

Others were pacifists, like the Quakers, who often had their property confiscated when they refused to fight.

And in colonial America, of course, losing property also meant losing rights.

And for slaves, the so-called fight for freedom was very different than it was for Continental soldiers, because loyalty to Britain in the war could mean freedom.

In 1775, British governor Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation that granted freedom to any slave who deserted his master and fought for the British.

Something like 5,000 slaves took him up on the offer.

And in addition, many slaves saw the revolution as chance to escape.

Boston King left a cruel master and later wrote,

“I determined to go to Charles-Town and throw myself into the hands of the English.

They received me readily, and I began to feel the happiness of liberty, of which I knew nothing before.”

100,000 slaves are estimated to have fled to the British.

Now, many slaves were returned to their masters, but more than 15,000 left the U.S. when the British did.

And it’s worth remembering that the British empire abolished slavery in all of its territory by 1843 and without a civil war.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

So, Native Americans were also profoundly affected by the Revolutionary War.

Generally, they wanted to stay out of it, and the Colonists mostly wanted them to remain neutral, too.

Like, the Continental Congress was eager to remind the Iroquois of their history of neutrality, writing:

“This is a family quarrel between us and Old England.

You Indians are not concerned in it.

We don’t wish you to take up the hatchet against the king’s troops.

We desire you to remain at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried deep.”

Right, well, many of the Iroquois fought for the British, anyway.

The Oneidas joined the Patriots, fighting against the Iroquois.

Sometimes there were divisions within tribes themselves.

Like, with the Cherokees; younger chiefs tended to side with the British, older ones with the Americans.

And it should be mentioned that, unsurprisingly, American troops were particularly brutal to American Indians who fought for the British, burning their villages and enslaving prisoners, contrary to the accepted rules of war.

And, if the American revolution was really about, as Thomas Jefferson would have it, "the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," then the Indians were definitely the losers because they didn’t get any of those rights.

So, we know slaves and Indians didn’t get much out of the Revolutionary War.

How did it go for women? Yeah, not great.

Some colonial women fought in the war:

Deborah Sampson dressed up as a man and fought at several battles, once even pulling a bullet out of her own leg.

But women didn’t get much out of the Revolution – they were basically still considered wards of their husbands.

Or, if they were unmarried, saleable assets of their fathers.

However, the idea of Republican Motherhood became really important.

It held that for the republic to survive, it was necessary to have a well-educated citizenry.

And since women were the primary educators, they themselves needed to be educated so they could, to quote Founding Father Benjamin Rush,

“instruct their sons in the principles of liberty and government.”

But not vote or own property.

So the war didn’t end slavery, it didn’t much change the roles of women.

And it didn’t displace the elite, land-owning, pasty white guy leadership of America.

So what was revolutionary? Well, the ideas.

A lot of which are summed up in a single sentence of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

So, when the colonies became states, they all created constitutions, which opened voting to more people.

While most states still had property qualifications for voting, the bar was lowered, so there were far more voters than there had been.

Although they were mostly white and male, but still.

Another aspect of the American revolution that was pretty revolutionary was the beginning of true religious freedom.

Like, with independence, the Church of England ceased to be the Church of America.

And some founders, like Jefferson, were Deists, believing that God had created the world, but then stepped away to, like, create other universes or try to build a boulder too big for him to lift.

Jefferson called for a “wall of separation” between Church and State that’s best embodied in the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, which Jefferson was so proud of that he had it mentioned on his tombstone.

And the American revolution profoundly changed the economy, too.

Like, all these new ideas of liberty led to a decline in apprenticeship and indentured servitude.

And, immediately after the war, you began to see the split between the North, with its reliance on paid labor, and the South, with its reliance on slavery.

Slavery was actually on the decline in the South until Eli Whitney went and invented the cotton gin in 1793, which:

A. made it possible to turn a profit growing inferior American cotton,

and B. reinvigorated slavery. Yay, innovation.

Oh, no. It’s time for the Mystery Document!

The rules are simple: Mystery Document. Get it wrong: shock pen. Get it right: WOOO.

“An equality of property constantly operating to destroy combinations of powerful families, is the very soul of a republic –

While this continues, the people will inevitably possess both power and freedom;

when this is lost, power departs, liberty expires, and a commonwealth will inevitably assume some other form.

Let the people have property, and they will have power –

a power that will for ever be exerted to prevent a restriction of the press, and the abolition of trial by jury, or the abridgment of any other privilege.”

Stan, why did you put communism in my Mystery Document?

All right, so we’ve got a fan of wealth distribution.

But, it isn’t Marx because: a) he’s not American, b) he wasn’t born.

There were a bunch of far-left hippies in early America with their hemp-growing and their liberty-espousing.

Ugh, I hate the shock pen.

All right, I’m gonna guess that it is noted lexicographer, Noah Webster.

[Dinging Noise] AH HA YES!

Yes, yes, yes! Yes! NAILED IT! Yes.

Stan, that was the best one ever. That was my biggest victory to date.

So it’s worth remembering that some early Americans proposed a vision of liberty that sprung out of the idea of equality of property, which is very different from the way we imagine liberty today.

But ideas of liberty – as diverse as they were – are really at the heart of what makes the American Revolution revolutionary.

And that brings us back to slavery.

The most common complaint among American high school students is that the Revolution was deeply hypocritical.

I mean, how could this guy write that “All men were created equal” when he himself held slaves?

And had kids with one of them.

And, even crazier, American colonists, often referred to themselves as slaves because they were denied the right to have a vote in parliament about their taxation.

Now, some people recognized that it was a smidge hypocritical to claim to be enslaved by British taxation while they themselves were ACTUALLY enslaving people.

But very few made the leap to say that liberty should mean freedom for the slaves.

One exception was James Otis of Massachusetts who wrote, concerning America’s slaves, that unless they were free, there could be no liberty:

“What man is or ever was born free if every man is not?”

But most of the Founders, including this guy and this guy, were the cream of the colonial elites, and so they held slaves and made arguments against abolition.

Like, many historians now argue that Jefferson was trying to condemn slavery in the Declaration of Independence, but without slavery he wouldn’t have had his amazing life.

I mean, if he’d been working, he couldn’t have designed Monticello or stolen all of those ideas from John Locke.

And speaking of Locke, Locke equated liberty with property.

And a revolution based on securing property against tyranny couldn’t very well turn around and take slaves, who after all were considered property.

I mean, Jefferson once calculated that his slaves gave him a better financial return than his real estate investments.

That being said, there were many and frequent protests against slavery.

The most vociferous protesters were often African Americans, and in the northern states at least, their pleas were heard.

Between 1777 and 1804, all states north of Maryland got rid of slavery, although most did so at a very slow pace and were careful not to deprive slave owners of the value of their property.

Like, as late as 1830, there were still about 3,500 slaves in the North;

and on the eve of the Civil war there were still 18 in New Jersey. NEW JERSEY.

So, the number of free people of color in the U.S. skyrocketed.

There were fewer than 10,000 in 1776; by 1810, there were nearly 200,000 free black Americans.

So, in the end, real change came, as it usually does, not through a revolutionary event but through a revolutionary process.

To me, the really novel idea that emerged from the American Revolution was of American equality.

Now obviously this was (and remains) a vastly unequal social order, but I’m talking about the kind of equality that Gordon Wood described in his famous book “The Radicalism of the American Revolution”:

The idea that no one American is inherently better than any other.

Prior to the revolution, and certainly in Europe, there were definitely classes of superior people, usually determined by birth.

I mean, people knew their place and they were expected to be deferential to their “betters.”

But all that talk of freedom and inalienable rights introduced the idea that birth wasn’t destiny, and that all people should be treated with respect.

And the idea that no one should be denied the opportunity to succeed because of who their parents were catalyzed change not just in America but around the world.

And while the U.S. no longer leads in equality of opportunity, that early American idea that we are all equal in our capacity to reason and to work became the foundation not just for the American Revolution, but for many others that would come afterward.

Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller, edited by Stan and Mark Olsen.

Our associate producer is Danica Johnson.

The script supervisor is Meredith Danko.

The show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, and myself.

And our graphics team is Thought Bubble.

If you have questions about today’s video, good news!

There are historians waiting for you in comments.

So ask away.

Thanks for watching Crash Course and as we say in my hometown, Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.