A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence

This book tells the ordinary people's viewpoints of the American Revolution. Its approach is similar to Howard Zinn's style of writing about American history. Some of the interesting facts that this book mentions are as follows: The every day views of regular ordinary people can sometimes be different than the views of the leaders in power. Some 80,000 people, about one in 30 people back then, belonged to pacifistic communities that opposed the Revolutionary War on religious grounds. Since the late 1600's in Boston and nearby, the richest 5% of the population had increased their share of the taxable assets from 30% to 49%. Loyalists to the British Crown came in all shapes and forms, and they were not all rich. In New York ironically, some of those who opposed the Revolution were poor tenant farmers. Families were occasionally divided by differing allegiances. Benjamin Franklin repudiated his son William for being a loyalist. The author of the book said that if we focus on the process of the Revolutionary War rather than its outcome, we find that almost everybody had to give up, at least for a time, the very freedom they hoped to achieve. For some people, there was no freedom at all. There was a culture change in the Iroquois. The men, no longer able to make a living by hunting, had little choice but to farm. The League of Six Nations was torn apart by the American Revolution.

Many times an author will write a book based on numerous other books where authors interpret circumstances that are the relied upon by other authors. The results are a variations of the facts. However, in this book you are reading the actual words of the people of that time. You get their feelings as well as true facts. A great read, a great piece of the whole picture, for the inquisitive as well as historians. You'll come away telling people "Did you know that.....?"

One of the wonderful things to emerge out of Howard Zinn’s focus on the struggles of the common people in history was the bottom up approach to studying history. Zinn was not responsible for this view alone, but his seminal work A People’s History of the United States played a very important role in popularizing the history of ordinary people in extraordinary times. Ray Raphael continued that tradition with this volume concerning the American Revolution. Part of Zinn’s People’s History series, American Revolution explores the period through the actions of common people. The result is a very different view of the Revolution. Raphael explores the history of ordinary Americans in the time of the American Revolution in seven chapters. From the very beginning of the Revolution in the time of the Stamp Act through the Spirit of ’75, women, loyalists, Native Americans, and African-Americans, he explores how the actions of these common people affected the course of the era. The result is a fascinating exploration of history that often is overlooked or downplayed by history books. Gone are the Great Men of History and in their place are men and women who had to make decisions for their own interests and needs. This is a great book in the sense that it can complement political histories or grand narratives by providing a view to the role of people in the Revolution. That is the best way I think the bottom up approach to history can work. As a college professor, one of the classes I teach is the survey course which covers a huge amount of time in a relatively short period of time. We often have no recourse but to go with the larger view of history as a result. I have found that providing each student with a segment from this book and others like it gives them a glimpse into the ways common people reacted to the events around them. In this way they can begin to understand that history is really nothing more than the actions of millions of people over time. Some of those people are well known to us while many others are not, but all of their actions are what makes history, not just that of a few. I particularly like how Raphael explores the history of the Stamp Act riots that took place in Boston of 1786. He explains the role of Ebenezer MacIntosh in orchestrating those riots. Yet, most Americans have never heard of this man and what he did. Without Ebenezer’s actions, these riots might not have taken place or been directed against the Stamp Act. Without them, it becomes difficult to say what might have happened. Suddenly, the role of a common becomes important to how things occurred in history. There are many more tales like this in the book. That is what really stands out. It is a collection of stories and that makes for great history. This was not a good/evil or black/white event. There were many shades of grey before, during, and after the period. People had widely varying reactions to the event itself and acted accordingly. Don’t believe me? Read for yourself and you can begin to understand why people did what they did. Even better, learn how some of these actions would have ramifications for events that transpired long after these people passed away. The book is easy to read too. Raphael made good use of sources, but instead of writing like a closeted academic he focused on telling a story. The result is a good, fact filled, and entertaining view of history that often eludes many historians’ attempts. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found many uses for it in my history classes.

Separate chapters devoted to American people defined by race, politics, livelihood, gender, intelligence and economic standing. Fantastic read providing background info not highlighted by schooling.

I live on an Island in the middle of the ocean. aI do not choose expedited servioce unless I need it immediately. I diod not choose expedited for this item and it came very qickly. This is a must read book if you want to konw the other side of the stor y of the founding of our country; you know, the one not told by thr rich aristocrats who stole our coutntry from us in 2007 , 2008, 2009. They didn't steal it from us in those years, they stole it from us in 1776 to 1789. They stole it from us when they wrote the Constitution. It is very sad and eye opening. It may well change your view of being an American as it has mine,

A great read and historical knowledge, a must read for those wanting the truth.

Ray Raphael is a remarkable writer and incredible historian who has a gift for being able to bring history alive. He cuts through all the glamorized versions of our history that we've been fed throughout our lives by clearly describing things as they most assuredly must have happened. He's refreshing and compelling. That's why this is an additional copy I ordered just to share with friends.

Seit kurzer Zeit beschäftige ich mich mit dem amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg und sammle mir gute Literatur.Dieses Buch von Ray Raphael zeigt eine Seite dieses Konfliktes, welche sehr schwierig zu erfassen ist, da in der Zeit von 1775 bis 1783 die Meinungen der einfachen Menschen nicht so gut dokumentiert wurden wie heute.Raphael hat einige der Briefe und Beschreibungen (von denen es bestimmt nur wenige gibt) auf interessante Art und Weise zusammengetragen. Das Buch las sich sehr schnell und öffnet ein Bild über diesen Krieg, das man in Artikeln und Büchern über die Schlachten nie zu lesen bekommt.Richtig gut und deswegen 5 Sterne.