So Thomas Peters and thousands of other fearful, hopeful, men, women and children came to the New York dockside, desperate for passage to land and freedom on the last British sailings. And where was this promised land? About as far away from the southern plantations as you could possibly get, on the wind-whipped eastern edge of Canada – Nova Scotia. ibid.
The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own ... The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leave us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die. George Washington, general orders 2nd July 1776
At a time when our lordly masters – Great Britain – will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to maintain liberty. George Washington
After the American revolution, rebellious and independent farmers had to be taught by force that the ideals expressed in the pamphlets of 1776 were not to be taken seriously. The common people were not to be represented by countrymen like themselves, that know the people’s sores, but by gentry, merchants, lawyers, and others who hold or serve private power. Jefferson and Madison believed that power should be in the hands of the ‘natural aristocracy’. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy
The perils of democracy: Madison asked them to consider what would happen in England if elections were open to all classes of people – the population would then use its voting rights to distribute land more equitably. To ward off such injustice, he recommended arrangements to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority … Aristotle and Madison posed essentially the same problem but drew opposite conclusions: Madison’s solution was to restrict democracy while Aristotle’s was to reduce inequality. Noam Chomsky, Failed States audio
Jefferson, like Washington, the Adamses, and Paine, believed that there could be no toleration for serious differences of political opinion on the issue of independence, no acceptable alternative to complete submission to the patriot cause. Everywhere there was unlimited liberty to praise it, none to criticize it. Leonard Levy
The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is actually missing ... there’s so much that’s not known about it. Brad Meltzer’s Decoded: Declaration of Independence, H2 2013
Among those that didn’t [sign] is arguably the most famous – the big man himself George Washington. ibid.
Declaration of Independence: The Holy Grail of missing historical artefacts. ibid.
I came across a book called Black Heroes of the American Revolution and was stunned to learn that African-Americans [and Native Americans] played a crucial part in our country’s fight for independence. What I learned changed my life and my sense of heritage. It’s a story every American should know: it’s a story of black patriots. Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution, Kareem Aldul-Jabbar reporting, History 2020
In 1770 in colonial America revolution is in the air. But this idea of independence is very different depending on the colour of your skin. One-fifth of the population is of African descent and slavery is a way of life in all thirteen colonies. Our black patriots begin this story in bondage; by War’s end they will have new identities in the new nation. ibid.
The black loyalists fighting for the British are making a significant impact on the War … A truly integrated unit: the first Rhode Island regiment is born … With roughly 140 black men now in the unit, their first taste of action is the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. Covering the retreat of six American brigades, they courageously withstand three ferocious British assaults, saving the day … Other colonies followed suit. ibid.
Colonel Tye becomes one of the thousands of blacks killed in the American revolution. ibid.
Another black patriot will emerge as clever as he is courageous to help decide the day … when an enslaved man named James Armistead Lafayett made his mark. ibid.
The commander in chief of the United States had an inner circle of trusted spies working just for him [Washington]. Well in 1778 such a spy ring was established. Brad Meltzer’s Decoded s1e9: President’s Inner Circle
It wasn’t long before the settlers were confident enough not to need the motherland. In 1776 America declared its independence from Britain and war broke out between them. For eight years the country was drenched in blood. A defining moment in its history and an enduring inspiration for its art. Against all expectations the British Crown was defeated by its own colony. Back in Britain many felt the loss of America was a national humiliation. They were determined the same thing should not happen again. Britain’s focus now moved to the east and to its interests in India. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain: Age of Empire, BBC 2010
The ruling class of this affluent land considered themselves fully the equals of their British cousins. They had the same rights and liberties, and they created similar institutions of self-government. Monarchy by David Starkey s3e4: Empire, Channel 4 2006
British America became ungovernable. The British made a final attempt at economic and military coercion. But instead of being cowed the Americans in 1774 summoned the first continental congress. ibid.
Washington was another product of the planted gentry of Virginia. ibid.
In the new American capital, Washington, the monuments, lawns and grand sweeping vistas are the lineal descendants of the landscape gardens ... Similarly, it is America today which embodies for better or worse the Whig ideas of freedom, power and empire which inspired William Pitt in the reign of George III – the king who lost America. ibid.
The Father Fathers ... tales of sex, conspirings, cults. Codes and Conspiracies: Founding Fathers, Discovery 2015
George Washington: a master of lies and deception ... The Culper Ring was so important that historians consider them among the revolution’s greatest heroes. ibid.
Franklin: Sex, and possible mass murder ... ‘Mysterious bones discovered in Ben Franklin’s London home’ [press report]. Police uncovered 1,200 bones containing the remains of ten bodies, six of them children. ibid.
Once in France the seventy-year-old Franklin began seducing powerful women. ibid.
1820: Former president Thomas Jefferson ... began chopping up Christianity’s most sacred book ... He had fathered children with one of his slaves ... The only slave family he ever freed. ibid.
As Burr’s [military] plot grew, people kept warning president Jefferson of the danger, but Jefferson ignored them ... It was the trial of the century. ibid.
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, 1776
Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. ibid.
Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America ... America will never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire. ibid.
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. ibid.
We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in. ibid.
They formed and marched with insolent parade. Drums beating. Fifes playing and colours flying. Each soldier having received sixteen pounds of powder and ball. Paul Revere
We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery ... Our cause is just, our union is perfect. John Dickinson 1732-1808, declaration of reasons for taking up arms against England
Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all, –
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall. John Dickinson 1732-1808, The Liberty Song
The people’s government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people. Daniel Webster
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable! Daniel Webster