American Founding Archives

How Colonial Trades Shaped the American Revolution

[Guest Author: Rachel Rodewald returns to Writing for the Public Square with a newly contributed post about colonial trades for the Countdown America 250 series. Rachel holds a Master’s Degree in History from George Mason University.]

The story of America’s founding is the story of ordinary citizens engaged in a wide variety of colonial trades—silversmiths, blacksmiths, printers, coopers, ropemakers, carpenters, tailors—who came together in pursuit of a free and independent nation. Most remain nameless, lost to the ages. But a few, like Paul Revere, are the stuff of legend.

Colonial Tradesman Paul Revere

When we think about Paul Revere, he’s usually atop a galloping horse. Signaled in the middle of the night by fellow Sons of Liberty member Robert Newman and a lantern hung in the Old North Church, Revere rides to alert nearby residents that “the British are coming!” This indelible image of the celebrated patriot, immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, has been held by generations of schoolchildren and adults.

Unvarnished and Irresistible History

History Unvarnished and Irresistible — Historic Independence Hall in Philadelphia—birthplace of America’s Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution

Author and columnist Peggy Noonan wrote a terrific piece in the Wall Street Journal recently about the importance of knowing history. She was reviewing a collection of essays, interviews and speeches by the late historian David McCullough called History Matters (pre-orders available here).

Noonan made an interesting observation about our understanding of history. She writes, “You can’t be dreamy about the past and say, ‘It was nice then.’ It was never nice, it was made by human beings. You can’t say, ‘People were better then.’ They weren’t.”

It’s true, we do tend to romanticize the past. We like our heroes strong and resolute, our villains dastardly. On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I realized how strong a gravitational pull nostalgia exerts. Like most Americans, I delight in the stories and characters of our founding. Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Betsy Ross stitching the first American flag. General Washington leading the Continental Army into battle against the Redcoats.

The problem with nostalgia is that it oversimplifies. It amplifies the “dreamy” and glosses over the unsavory bits. To really honor and learn from the American story (or any historical account for that matter) requires more than sentimentality. We need the unvarnished version. Which is what makes Rick Atkinson’s book The British are Coming such an irresistible read.

New Colors for a New Nation: A Patriotic Display

Washington's PATRIOTIC crossing of the Deleware — *Washington Crossing the Delaware* by Emanuel Leutze, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC via Wikimedia Commons

[GUEST AUTHOR: Rachel Rodewald contributed this patriotic post as a special installment of Writing for the Public Square. Rachel holds a Master’s Degree in History from George Mason University.]

Flags and banners remain a tangible expression of the patriotism our Founding Fathers inspired generations ago.

Imagine you are a soldier in the Continental Army and you’ve just scored a victory on the battlefield. You want to rally with your peers to celebrate your success, but the confusion of the moment—the literal fog of war—has you turned around and lost. Then, in the distance, you spot it. Your regimental flag with its distinctive colors and symbols waves in the smoke-filled air—a patriotic beacon of hope and brotherhood.

Thankfully, today we associate our flags more with celebration and patriotism and less with the stress and anxiety of war. The American flag and some state and local flags are now ubiquitous and inspiring. They fly in public settings like post offices and banks, baseball games and parades, political rallies and memorial services. We even wear them on patriotic shirts and hats.

We display and maintain our flags with specific, respectful criteria. A familiarity with foreign flags even helps us better understand international sporting events and helps us connect current events to impressions we might have about those countries.

So why were flags and banners so important to an early American nation? And how did they become such a powerful part of the American story?

Revolutionary Summer: Lessons for America’s Semiquincentennial

In celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, Countdown America 250 has created a curated reading list on the American revolution and the story of America’s founding. Each month, we consider one of the books on this list to better understand our own history, rediscover our foundational values, and gaze with hope into our future. Click here for a complete reading list.

Countdown America 250 and the journey to America’s semiquincentennial begins with the explosive summer of 1776. In his book Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, Joseph J. Ellis zooms in on a critical stretch of time that shifted history and shaped a nation.

Unlike many sweeping Revolutionary War histories, the narrow scope of Revolutionary Summer creates a focused and tension-filled narrative. Ellis invites readers to step into a compressed time frame in which political and military leaders alike were “improvising on the edge of catastrophe.” They did not have the advantage history affords us. We know the outcome; they did not.

As Ellis tells the story, the summer of 1776 was the “crescendo moment in American history.” More than dry chronology, Revolutionary Summer explores a dual timeline rife with intensity and human emotion. Ellis unpacks the political maneuvering in Philadelphia alongside the harsh military realities unfolding in New York. Themes of fragile unity, political and military uncertainty, and character under pressure dominate the narrative.

Though written in 2013, Revolutionary Summer is a relevant read in the lead-up to America’s semiquincentennial. Ellis’ analysis invites comparison between the challenges encountered by America’s founders and the seemingly constant conflict of our current moment.

Following are a few highlights from Revolutionary Summer along with questions for further reflection.

America’s Hopeful Vision Transcends Political Division

In this semiquincentennial year, I’ve heard more than a few folks say they wish they felt more celebratory about America at 250 but political division gets in the way. So much rancor and disagreement around every corner. It’s true, we live in a highly polarized moment of history. But I’m not sure that makes us unique, let alone defines us. In fact, today’s political climate bears an uncanny resemblance to that of early American politics.

I submit the case of two Founding Fathers: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The same duo that brought us the Declaration of Independence, also introduced political division. They shared the same vision for American independence but held intensely different views as to the nature of the new republic. For decades they worked in tandem. Then for years, they found themselves at cross-purposes, and their bond of friendship slowly unraveled. In time, the two would rekindle their long-held amity. The full arc of their friendship provides a sympathetic model for how we each might approach our own feelings in the countdown to America’s 250th.

Reel Revolution: How Film and Documentaries Capture the Story of America’s Founding

Capturing the story of America’s Founding has long captivated the public imagination. For nearly 250 years, our origin story has inspired both national pride and ongoing debate. From classrooms to pop culture, this formative era has been the subject of bestsellers, biographies, and scholarly research. But it is on the screen–in film and documentaries–where the ideals, contradictions and bold personalities of the Founding Fathers are most vividly brought to life.

More than words on a page, films and documentaries allow viewers to experience the past and watch history unfold. They transport audiences to the corner of a candlelit tavern where they hear the whispers of revolution. Or moviegoers might witness the heated discourse of delegates debating first principles in an equally heated Philadelphia state house. They might even encounter the heart-stopping moments of combat between American patriots and British Red Coats.

The storytelling power of film and documentaries makes the Founding feel more immediate, tangible, and relatable. Of course, good film and good documentaries must strike a balance between entertainment and truth. When done well, the result is compelling drama and an entry point for deeper understanding and exploration. When off-kilter, the outcome feels more like sentimental kitsch, tired tropes, or perilous revisionism.

America’s Money Problem

America’s money problems didn’t start with today’s $36 trillion national debt (though that’s a whopper of a problem). In fact, if George Washington were telling the story, he might say that money woes nearly cost America her independence from the start.

For eight long years, despite repeated pleas to Congress, Washington was forced to bootstrap a half-starved, rag-tag, and disease-ridden Continental Army. As Joseph J. Ellis writes in Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, “The Continental Army was kept on life support but was never provided the money and men Washington requested, even though the resources for a larger and better-equipped army were readily available.”

In part, the brick wall Washington repeatedly ran into centered on a reluctance among delegates to embrace the idea of a central army. A powerful military was one of their chief grievances against the British Crown after all.