American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People

T.H. Breen, William Smith Mason Professor of American History at Northwestern University continues his previous works on the American Revolution with this new entry into the field. Breen's research is in keeping with the trend of recent scholarship in this era which involves examining the beginnings of the Revolution. This bottom up approach to the questions of why the Revolution occurred in the manner it did has yielded a plethora of information which point to a completely different understanding of the event when compared to the top down approach. Breen and his contemporaries have done just what they were trained to do as historians and that is to use primary sources in order to construct their interpretations of what happened. As a result, they have delved into the diaries, newspaper accounts, and letters of the common people of that time. The results have challenged the older interpretations that have been in the mainstream of American historical thought. Formerly, most of the attention for the Revolution was given to the men classified as Founders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington. These men played an important part in codifying the ideology of the era and expressing it through their own actions and writing. However, as Breen shows us through American Insurgents, these Founders were late to the party. By the end of 1775 most of the vestiges of British government in the colonies had been ejected by a popular uprising of the people. The few enclaves of royal authority were in coastal cities, most of the royal governors and officials had fled, and the main center of rebellion, Boston, was a city besieged by a popular army of the people. The Continental Congress was composed of men who for the most part represented landed interests within the colonies and were merely representatives of their colonial legislatures. They could take no action on independence without the consent of those legislatures. As Breen shows, this was often at odds with the demands of the colonists who had for all purposes began to throw off British control in 1774 throughout the colonies. Previous histories have attributed the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense with changing the minds of the people from reconciliation to that of independence from the Crown. As Breen and others have shown, Common Sense changed the minds of those legislatures. The common people had already made up their minds. Breen illustrates this with the example of the New England response to a false rumor that the British had cannonaded and destroyed Boston in September of 1774. The spread of this news sparked a previously unimaginable outpouring of thousands of armed men with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 marching upon Boston as soon as they heard the news. No Founders led this movement or directed it. The people themselves marched to war, only to turn back as they learned the news was false. Breen also shows how the plight of Bostonians due to the enforcement of the Coercive Acts led to an unprecedented outpouring of support from all thirteen colonies in the form of foodstuffs and monetary contributions. This was done before the First Continental Congress met which shows how the colonists had united in the face of what they perceived was a common threat to all of them. Breen covers the establishment of committees that directed the local efforts of the Americans in a common goal. These committees were made up of locals who had very little instruction from the Continental Congress and often made up their rules as they went along. What was really interesting about this point is that this is where revolutions tend to become bloody excesses with reprisals and the settling of old scores. The committees kept this in check and used different methods including many that Americans accustomed to the Bill of Rights would find highly illegal such as seizure of weapons, courts of the people, lack of legal representation, preventing the freedom of speech, and threats of physical violence, all forms of intimidation short of actual killing. This included the closing of royal courts, forcing officials to recant their positions or statements supporting the Crown, and removal of local officials from local positions such as officers in the militia. The result is a book that builds a substantial case for comparing what happened in 1773-1776 to a modern insurgency. This shows that the American Revolution was one in every sense of the word. It was the complete rejection of British authority which had come to be perceived as tyranny by the common people. It is very difficult today to wonder whether the Revolution would have occurred with the support of the American people in that time. Often John Adams's quote about the American people being divided in thirds for, against, or neutral regarding the Revolution is seen as the standard for how the people felt about the event at that time. Breen's research indicates that this didn't seem to be the case, particularly in New England. Neutrality was a far more limited expression and those who supported the Crown often had to flee for their lives. Breen's work is quite good and the book is very readable. Each chapter covers a specific aspect of the Revolution. Readers who want a military history will be disappointed as will those who prefer a chronological history. This book was not designed to be such. It was written to explain how the patriots of the American Revolution were comparable to insurgents. Along the way, Breen explores some of the reasons why the Revolution did not turn into a bloodbath which is critical to the United States developing the ideology that evolved from the uprising of the people. Had it turned into a bloody uprising it is most likely that the concepts of freedom and democracy that emerged as we know them today would have been stunted at birth. As a result, Breen shows how Americans worked together for a common goal and constructed a Revolution that would be harnessed by the men who emerged as Founders in forging what became the United States of America. If anything, Breen could have expanded upon the concepts in this book and doubled it in size. However, in limiting the content to what is in it, he delivers a compelling interpretation of American insurgency which made up the Revolution.

This was a refreshing take on the revolution.

Really great documentation of how the common folk of the colonies were out in front of the big names of the American Revolution. I never realized that local militias largely neutralized British authority in 1774 and 1775 outside the cities. So many forgotten patriots are celebrated in this work. It really gave me a better understanding of what was happening leading up to the rebellion.

'American Insurgents, American Patriots' is about the lead up to the American Revolution. It contains many valuable facts, but for me it seemed as if the book was written too much in a text book manner. It was definitely a challenge to read, however, I learn a huge amount from this book once i got into it, which took a few chapters. At some points 'American Insurgents, American Patriots' was hard to follow, because it was not organised chronologically. The book also stays in New England, and so you don't get a full sight of what was happening to the other colonies. It does very well in continuing the storyline of the "New England" commoners in their insurgency before the beginning of the Revolution, as these events are not well talked about. The book also gives some great, descriptive examples of history to support his thoughts, which makes the book a lot more interesting, and easier to follow. I would recommend this book to anybody who is very interested in the American Revolution and the time period leading up to it. Breen gives new insights to what really caused America to become independent. 'American Insurgents, American Patriots' certainly is not a easy read, but you will feel accomplished at the end of the book, and will have learnt a lot.

In American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People, T.H. Breen analyzes the actions of the common man in the coming of the War for American Independence. He argues that the ordinary citizens of America "launched an insurgency that drove events toward a successful revolution" and that it was their activities that radicalized the Revolution (4-5). First through unorganized bands of militia and later through structured local committees, these insurgents led the way in the radicalism of the Revolution. Their actions forced Congress to adopt more radical positions than they otherwise would have. Thus, the move toward independence was a bottom-up process rather than a top-down one. Breen's argument is convincing, if a bit limited in geographical scope (he focuses a little too much on the Northeast). As always, Breen divides his chapters into subsections that make his arguments easy to follow and comprehend. With a title obviously influenced by the recent American wars in the Middle East, American Insurgents is a great history of the insurgents on our own continent 240 years ago and a welcome addition to the historiography of the Revolution.

I read this for a graduate history course on social movements. I liked the book, although it definitely challenges the ideas that America and Americans were entirely in the right during this period. As far as people complaining that the book is not organized chronologically is correct, however that is not the only way to tell a history of a given period. This went with a thematic organization, with all examples of a given theme being presented together. It is not distracting or hard to understand if looked at and understood from that perspective.Over all I liked the book. I'm not sure I would recommend it to someone who wasn't interested in the period, but it definitely offers something to the discussion of the American Revolution from the perspective of the average colonist.

Cant be bettered as an accurate portrayal of the USAs beginnings, and gives a depth of understanding to the casual reader.

A good account of the revolution from the patriot perspective. But it is American exceptionalism run rampant