Most Americans have heard the history of the American Revolution again and again. But no matter how much you think you know, there are plenty of things about the war that gave rise to our nation that don't make sense.
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00:00Most Americans have heard the history of the American Revolution again and again, but no
00:04matter how much you think you know, there are plenty of things about the war that gave
00:08rise to our nation that don't make sense.
00:10Though teasing out the causes of the American Revolution is seriously complicated, one in
00:15particular stands out. Representation.
00:17"...taxation without representation."
00:19Exactly. It also doesn't just pop up out of nowhere right before the war. You see, in
00:241764 Massachusetts, colonist James Otis published the Rights of the British Colonies Asserted
00:29and Proved, in which he argued that giving the colonists a seat in government wouldn't
00:33weaken Britain, writing,
00:34"...this would firmly unite all parts of the British Empire in the greatest peace and prosperity
00:39and render it invulnerable and perpetual."
00:41"...even as we shoot down British soldiers, we will be winning rights their children shall
00:46enjoy forever."
00:48Even if Britain didn't 100% agree, why didn't they change course when the rebellion turned
00:52into full-out war? Well, actually, they did.
00:55In 1778, Britain sent a group of representatives known as the Carlisle Commission to the colonies
01:00with a proposal. Stop the war, and you can rule yourselves. But the members of the Continental
01:05Congress could feel the momentum of the revolution, not to mention that they were wary of allegations
01:09of corruption in collaboration with the commission. In other words, the enemy.
01:14They nixed the proposal, although a fun little what-if is, would it have been so roundly
01:18rejected had all the representatives been there for the vote?
01:20While it's easy to understand why farmers and other working-class folks might want freedom
01:25from the British crown, a surprising number of elite, upper-class colonists were firmly
01:29in the revolution camp as well. Take Virginia, for example. The higher-ranking members of
01:33Virginia's society got to North America by virtue of the colonial system. Not only that,
01:37they continued to enjoy plenty of big and little luxuries imported from Britain.
01:41So why would they choose to support a scrappy, breakaway republic?
01:45"...this is a time for choosing sides."
01:47Turns out, they did it for the most American of reasons. They couldn't get high-end goods.
01:52You see, as time went on, trade was hampered by British taxes, as were fancy foreign imports.
01:57Wealthy planters began to worry that their financial situation was being undercut by
02:01money-hungry Britain. Some were concerned that the growing discontent might shatter
02:04the social order, giving enslaved people the idea that they deserved equal rights. With
02:09that in mind, the revolution became a way for elites to maintain the financial and social
02:13order that elevated them without interference from Britain.
02:16And they were right. While slavery was outlawed across the British Empire in the 1830s, it
02:20took a bloody civil war and a constitutional amendment to outlaw U.S. slavery, which didn't
02:25happen until 1865.
02:27You don't have to do a deep dive into early American history to realize that colonists
02:31were never going to win a war against the all-powerful British by themselves. Luckily,
02:35France came along with a major assist. But while it's clear that France and a few other
02:39nations lent serious help to the budding republic, it's not so obvious why.
02:43At the time, France was a pre-Revolution monarchy that supported both the aristocracy and Catholicism.
02:48Why would they train, supply, and fund a bunch of ragtag rebels facing off against
02:53a growing British Empire? For one thing, the ragtag bit is more of a myth than strict reality.
02:58Moreover, the cultural differences between the American colonists and the French may
03:02not have been quite as stark as it sounds.
03:04Sure, King Louis XVI was still in power, but the Enlightenment had come to France in full
03:09force, bringing with it new ideas about society and government that were explicitly echoed
03:13in what Thomas Jefferson and company wrote in the Declaration of Independence. There
03:17were political factors to consider, also. France and Britain had long been rivals, so
03:21helping the rebels meant striking a blow against an old enemy, not to mention making friends
03:25with a new nation that produced all sorts of profitable crops and goods. That's likely
03:29the major reason why nations like Spain and the Netherlands joined France in supporting
03:33the not-so-ragtag revolutionists. Might as well profit and keep the Brits down.
03:39There were plenty of times during the American Revolution when George Washington barely escaped
03:42serious injury or death. He was the subject of a 1776 assassination plot, barely avoided
03:47being captured by the British in New York, and led its December 1776 surprise attack
03:52that could have proven disastrous, although it turned out to be the rebels' first real
03:56win of the war. Washington's closest brush with disaster came at the September 11, 1777
04:02Battle of Brandywine.
04:03At Brandywine, Pennsylvania, the Americans fought the largest engagement of the war so
04:07far, and Washington suffered one of his worst losses.
04:12British Lieutenant General Sir William Howe forced Washington's army into a battle at
04:15Brandywine Creek near Philadelphia. It was a loss for the Continentals, but not a crushing
04:20defeat, since many colonial soldiers managed to retreat safely. But Washington himself
04:24had an alarmingly close call.
04:26For a few moments, at least, an enemy sharpshooter had him in his sights. His name was Captain
04:30Patrick Ferguson, widely touted as the best marksman in the British Army. Crouched along
04:35the creek, Ferguson saw a group of rebel officers pass nearby. He ordered the soldiers under
04:39his command to shoot, but canceled the order at the last second. According to the Philadelphia
04:43Campaign by Thomas J. Maguire, Ferguson felt,
04:46"...it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who was acquitting
04:50himself very coolly of his duty."
04:52Pride in his craft kept Ferguson from taking out George Washington. It might be the biggest
04:56what-if that would have completely changed America as we know it today.
05:00Charles Lee was a British officer who joined the colonists in 1775. He was commissioned
05:05as a major general in the Continental Army, and at first enjoyed the acclaim of his fellow
05:09commanders, eventually becoming the Army's second-in-command.
05:12But Lee came into such frequent and dramatic conflict with Washington that his once stellar
05:16reputation began to tarnish. He's now considered one of the worst generals of the American
05:21Revolution.
05:22At the June 28, 1778 Battle of Monmouth, Washington criticized Lee for his messy, confusing command.
05:28Lee's lack of confidence in his own men saw them abandon the fight within the first hour
05:33of battle.
05:34Lee's response was so spicy that he was charged with insubordination and temporarily removed.
05:39Apparently not knowing when he ought to mind his manners, Lee became such a constant problem
05:42that he was accused of treason and permanently dismissed in 1780.
05:46Removing Lee cemented Washington's unquestioned role as commander-in-chief for the remainder
05:52of the war.
05:53While Lee's rash decisions are plenty confusing, an earlier incident in his career makes things
05:57even weirder. In 1776, after the British took New York City, Lee was captured and held a
06:02prisoner of war for two years. During that time, he wrote to Sir William Howe with inside
06:06advice on how to defeat the rebels, although those letters didn't become public until after
06:10Lee's 1782 death. There are accusations that he even came up with a concrete plan to hand
06:14the colonies back to Britain. Others wonder if he may have been a canny double agent or
06:19simply a difficult man who perhaps wrestled with untreated mental health issues.
06:23So who was the real Charles Lee?
06:25It's a mystery! It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma!
06:29In a war full of dramatic episodes, few are more gut-wrenching than the story of British
06:33Major John Andre. He's perhaps most notorious for basically being Benedict Arnold's connection,
06:38facilitating his betrayal and an attempted takeover of the fort at West Point, New York.
06:42In exchange for 20,000 pounds, I shall transfer to you the plans for West Point.
06:47The plot failed, and Andre was captured and executed in October 1780. Though Andre's execution
06:53was ordered by George Washington, the reasons aren't clear.
06:57Washington was said to have admired Andre and may even have seen him as a poor sap caught
07:00between two opposing sides. He even offered to return Andre to the British in exchange
07:04for Arnold, but was turned down.
07:07Something about the whole thing didn't make sense.
07:09The day before his death, Andre reached out to Washington for mercy, writing,
07:12"'If aught in my character impresses you with esteem towards me, if aught in my misfortunes
07:17marks me as a victim of policy and not of resentment, I shall experience the operation
07:21of these feelings in your breast by being informed that I am not to die on a gibbet.'"
07:25Other officers thought Andre should at least be given the dignity of death by firing squad
07:29and not the hanging accorded to common criminals. Yet, Washington — and other Continental
07:34Army commanders — voted to have him hanged anyway. Major General Nathaniel Green argued
07:38that it was a fitting death for a spy, but Washington never explained his decision.
07:43The Rebels got a big assist from a group known as the Culper Spy Ring. They were based in
07:47Setauket, Long Island and organized by a Calvary officer named Benjamin Talmadge.
07:51What are you doing here?
07:52I saw Ben Talmadge trying to recruit me for a secret mission.
07:56Many of those involved have since been revealed, including Farmer Abraham Woodhull and Sailor
08:00Caleb Brewster. But one member of the ring remains unknown to this day, Agent 355. Talmadge
08:06used numbers and code names known as the Culper Code to conceal identities.
08:11355 in the Culper Code meant lady.
08:15Agent 355 is mentioned just once by Woodhull, according to Morton Pennypacker's General
08:19Washington's spies, who quotes,
08:21I think by the assistance of a 355 of my acquaintance, we shall be able to outwit them all.
08:26But a close reading, The Assistance of a 355, reveals that Talmadge may not be speaking
08:31about a full-on spy, but using a generic term, not an actual code name.
08:36This is war. You never know who's listening.
08:39Still, people love to speculate about the mysterious woman's identity. Some folks point
08:43to Anna Strong, a Long Island resident who was Woodhull's neighbor and whose husband
08:47supported the rebellion. She allegedly communicated with agents, reportedly hanging a black petticoat
08:52on a washing line if a message was ready for pickup. Other candidates included an unnamed
08:56lover of Agent 723, Robert Townsend, and none other than Benedict Arnold's sweetheart, Peggy
09:03Shippen.
09:04The opening lines of the Declaration of Independence read,
09:06"...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
09:10rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
09:15"...not only a declaration of our independence, but of the rights of all men."
09:22But think a little deeper, and that notion is complicated by some of the founding fathers.
09:27In a 1776 letter to James Sullivan, John Adams contemplated the idea of letting non-elites
09:32vote. Adams thought the notion dangerous, or at least a major political headache, writing,
09:36"...there will be no end of it. Women will demand a vote. Lads from 12 to 21 will think
09:41their rights not enough attended to. And every man, who is not a farthing, will demand
09:46an equal voice with any other in all acts of state."
09:49Adams, the second U.S. president, was part of the land-owning elite guaranteed voting
09:53rights under the colonial system. He had an estimated net worth of $21.5 million in modern
09:59U.S. dollars and owned a 40-acre estate.
10:01But skepticism about democracy wasn't an Adams-only problem. Other founding fathers were wary of
10:07populism and initially ensured that only members of the House of Representatives were elected
10:11by popular vote. In fact, senators weren't elected by popular vote until 1913, with the
10:16ratification of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.