Picky, picky. The events leading up to the separation are equally, or more, important. What drives people to rebel? How can new societies form on the basis of constrained and limited governments? Why and how did this happen here? Why not in Mexico and south? Why not in Canada? How did the leaders of the movement manage to coalesce thought in such a large expanse, gain public support and impel people to action? How could this happen with slow written communications in colonies with few printing presses and (I’m guessing here) little locally manufactured paper upon which to print newspapers and broadsides?
The decades before the war are a most fascinating period.
Then you have the corollary period today. How did the people lose their will to control government and limit its scope? How did we sleepwal into tyranny and despotism? How will today’s trends end? Will the USA cease to exist?
All valid points.
Oh no question this is good stuff.
But technically it is NOT the war itself, so it still does not satisfy that definition presented! (And indeed, the RevWar is woefully neglected, although there has been more recently).
“The events leading up to the separation are equally, or more, important. What drives people to rebel?”
Well said. That is what Mr. Cline’s fictional account illustrates: the ideas behind the Revolution. No other nation was ever established with the basic premise that man’s right to his own life, to his own liberty, and to the pursuit of his own happiness. In Sparrowhawk, Mr Cline tells a beautiful story with heroic characters with the spirit of events and ideas that caused men to rebel against tyranny using the pre-American Revolution as a backdrop.
” How can new societies form on the basis of constrained and limited governments? Why and how did this happen here? “
I don’t understand why it was never adopted by other countries. Especially after our great successes.
Our Founding inspired the overthrow of the nobility around the world but the feudal organization was retained- only adopting elected rulers. Then socialism was developed to intellectually justify these centralized feudal organizations. Despite it’s constant failure it is now the ideal.
People in the aggregate are stupid and frightened.
Maybe our success against Britain gave us a confidence and optimism that is rare and fragile.