Thread by @arctotherium42

Continued thread on the 1965 book "An Oxford History of the American People." Morison isn't flattering towards the Quebecois, seeing them as ingrates for their disdain for their tolerant conquerors.

https://twitter.com/arctotherium42/status/1965567810060570663

French & Indian War began with a disaster, with total annihilation only stopped by the Indians mutilating captured prisoners instead of pursuing defeated foes. Brits turned things around, Quebecers created a stabbed-in-the-back myth about the Bourbons.

The American Revolution was to *maintain* their liberties as Englishmen against an overweening Parliament and King, not expand them.

The importance of the genocidal frontier warfare of Indian fighting. British regulars protected Indian refugees in Philadelphia from "the Paxton Boys" who were only bought off with the promise of bounties for redskin scalps.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 banned westward expansion, turning prominent land speculators and the frontiersmen, not especially sympathetic to the coastal Sons of Liberty, against the British.

Many English Whigs supported the Patriots as bearing the standard of English liberty against the monarchy, as King George III tried to centralize power in himself.

Lord North attempted to bribe Ben Franklin into mediating with the angry colonists; this turned Franklin from a Whig advocate of compromise into an independence advocate himself. Even after taking up arms it took a year to declare independence; even patriots wanted a compromise.

All the "mystic chords of memory" of Americans were English, making independence very psychologically difficult. Continental Congress asked for dominion status as a final compromise, but were turned down by King George III, who refused to recognize rebels.

"Altogether, the private soldier of the War of Independence was so badly fed, clothed, and cared for, and often so badly led, too, that one is surprised and grateful that any continued to fight." Revolution very dependent on French financial and naval support.

Morison estimates a ratio of 4:1:5 Patriots:Loyalists:Neutrals in the colonies. Contra some later tales, Loyalists were not especially persecuted after the war, though during it there were confiscating and bloody reprisals on both sides.

Washington turning himself into a great figure of history through sheer character, deliberately embodying what was best about the American spirit.

The New Jersey campaign. New Jerseyans were initially neutral, but German looting turned them against the British, and Washington eventually won after repeated losses and orderly retreats.

One of the defining features of the Revolution: because the whole countryside was in arms, unlike quiescent European peasants, the British Army had a very tough time leaving the coast where they had naval supremacy. Couldn't militarily subjugate the colonies.

French logistical and naval support was essential for the Americans to actually win rather than just survive, however. American Army coordinated much better with the French Navy than the British Army did with the Royal Navy.

One of the unusual things about the American Revolution: there were no purges. Why? Because the American Revolutionaries were building off the English status quo, not starting from scratch.

The South recovered quicker than the North, horseraces continued to be popular. US was extremely dependent on British exports before the war, took a while to recover from their loss.

No loyalists were expelled after the war, though 80,000 emigrated voluntarily.

The first Catholic Church in the US was consecrated in 1785.

Shay's Rebellion: leaders were not executed and some of their demands were met. But the rebellion scared states into the Constitution. Franklin wanted to open convention assemblies with a prayer, but they lacked the money for a chaplain.

Morison had a very high opinion of the Constitution, seeing it as the crowning achievement of 18th century America, a work of geniuses for building a sovereign union of sovereign states. 60 years later, I don't think his belief has held up.

Only one big cleavage in supporters vs opponents of the Constitution: the supporters were younger and more vigorous, the opponents older.
Both Washington and Franklin were Federalists, but Washington supported a Bill of Rights to appease the Anti-Federalists.