The struggle for American Independence is a podcast series within Brushfires of the Mind covering the conflict between American patriots and the British crown. The episodes tackle the tumultuous years 1761 to 1783, from the height of pro-British sentiment among Americans, to the inflammatory response to British policy caused the states to sever all political connections to the crown, to the culmination of a successful war against an intimidating European power. Much of the content here is elaborated upon in greater depth in my book, Compact of the Republic: The League of States and the Constitution.
Episode 00: Introduction
In 1761, relations between Britain and its North American colonies began to crumble.
Episode 01: The 13 Colonies
Though the 13 American colonies are often lumped together, they couldn’t have been more different.
Recommended readings:
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 02: The French and Indian War
By the end of the French and Indian War, pro-British sentiments among Americans were at an all time high. The situation didn’t last long.
Recommended readings:
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
-Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
-Richard Berleth, Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War & American Revolution on New York’s Frontier
Episode 03: The Writs of Assistance
To enforce the navigation acts and crack down on smuggling, in 1761 the British government issued invasive writs in New England. They weren’t popular with the locals.
Recommended readings:
-James Otis, Against the Writs of Assistance (speech)
-James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved
-Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 04: The Sugar Act and Mounting Tension
By 1763, the British were determined to use the North American colonies to recoup some of their financial losses in the Seven Years War. The colonists weren’t up for it.
Recommended readings:
-James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 05: The Stamp Act
In 1765, British Parliament concocted a scheme to directly tax the American colonies for the first time. “Liberty, property, and no stamps!” was the colonial response.
Recommended readings:
-Edmund Morgan, The Stamp Act Crisis
-Richard Bland, An Enquiry Into the Rights of the English Colonies
-Thomas Whatley, The Regulations Lately Made Concerning the -Colonies and the Taxes Imposed upon them Considered
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
Episode 06: The Townshend Acts
After the Stamp Act was repealed, Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend crafted a new set of taxes to sidestep the American arguments against taxation.
Recommended readings:
-John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (especially letter #2)
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 07: Parliamentary Sovereignty
After repealing the Stamp Act, Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend crafted a new set of taxes to sidestep the American arguments against taxation.
Recommended readings:
-James Iredell, To the Inhabitants of Great Britain (pamphlet)
-Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America
-William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England
-Samuel Adams and James Otis, Massachusetts Circular Letter
-Richard Bland, An Enquiry Into the Rights of the English Colonies (pamphlet)
Episode 08: A Standing Military Presence
Under the British constitution, the military was supposed to remain disbanded during peacetime. When the crown brought an armed force to American shores, more tensions emerged.
Recommended readings:
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Peter Oliver, Origin and Progress of the American Revolution: A Tory View
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 09: The Boston Massacre
In early 1770, British soldiers fired upon a Boston crowd, and several Americans died – widening schism between British and the colonies.
Recommended readings:
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-James Bowdoin, Joseph Warren, and Samuel Pemberton, A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre
-A Fair Account of the Late Unhappy Disturbance in Boston (a collection of depositions from eyewitnesses, collected by Governor Hutchcinson)
-Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
Episode 10: The Constitutional Crisis
The unfolding crisis produced two incompatible views regarding the British constitution, one held by American Whigs, and the other by Parliamentarians and Tories.
Recommended readings:
-Joseph Warren, A List of Infringements and Violation of Rights
-Thomas Hutchinson, The Governor’s Speech, January 6, 1773
-Answer of the House of Representatives, January 26, 1773
-Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 11: The Tea Parties
Although the Boston Tea Party was an infamous example of colonial resistance, opposition to the Tea Act stretched much further than one incident. In 1773 and 1774, many colonies openly defied the British tea policy.
Recommended readings:
-Harlow Giles Unger, American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 12: The Intolerable Acts
After the destruction of the tea, the British said enough was enough, and endeavored to punish Bostonians through a new set of incendiary laws.
Recommended readings:
-Harlow Giles Unger, American Tempest: How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 13: The First Continental Congress
After the Intolerable Acts, the American colonies decided to send delegates to a Congress to determine a colonial response.
Recommended readings:
-The Fairfax Resolves (Virginia)
-The Suffolk Resolves (Massachusetts)
-Joseph Warren, The Solemn League and Covenant
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 14: Lexington and Concord
When Thomas Gage attempted to seize gunpowder reserves, Lexington and Concord mobilized their militia forces to oppose him, and the die was cast.
Recommended readings:
-Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 15: Liberty or Death
Virginia’s aristocracy was split on whether to resist the British militarily, while Patrick Henry was sure that life without liberty was not worth living.
Recommended readings:
-Patrick Henry, Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death! (speech)
-Kevin Gutzman, Virginia’s American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776-1840
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 16: The Second Continental Congress
While some viewed Massachusetts’ plight as an isolated incident, others believed it deserved a concerted colonial response. The Second Continental Congress was tasked with sorting these matters out.
Recommended readings:
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 17: Common Sense
The American cause for independence needed a spokesman, and found it in Thomas Paine – an Englishman.
Recommended readings:
-Thomas Paine, Common Sense
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 18: The Siege of Boston
The British occupation of Boston doomed the patriots. Until Henry Knox accomplished an unparalleled military feat, that is.
Recommended readings:
-David McCullough, 1776
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 19: Independence
After more than a year of military strife in New England, the Continental Congress finally severed all ties with the British Empire – after a few states did so first.
Recommended readings:
-The Virginia Declaration of Rights
-Virginia Constitution of 1776
-The Declaration of Independence
-Kevin Gutzman, Virginia’s American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776-1840
-Mercy Otis Warren, The Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 20: Disaster in New York
Right after independence was declared, Washington suffered a catastrophe that very nearly led to the capture of the entire Continental Army.
Recommended readings:
-Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
-David McCullough, 1776
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
Episode 21: Crossing the Delaware
Washington gave the new American states the best conceivable Christmas present when he crossed the Delaware River and surprised the Hessians.
Recommended readings:
-David McCullough, 1776
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
-Don Higginbotham, George Washington and the American Military Tradition
Episode 22: The State Constitutions
When the American states seceded from a monarchical empire, they reformed their political systems to embrace constitutional republicanism.
Recommended readings:
-Murray Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty
-Gordon Wood, The American Revolution
-Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution