It’s not cheating—it’s the Reader’s Digest version! (You’re welcome.)
We tend to think we know a lot about the Revolutionary War since we learned “the greatest hits” in school—the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s famous ride, Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. It’s in our DNA as Americans … or maybe we’ve just listened to Hamilton on repeat for the past decade. But as it turns out, we may know a whole lot less about this period in American history than we think we do.
As a self-proclaimed history nerd, I jumped at the chance to get a sneak peek of Ken Burns’s new six-part documentary series, The American Revolution, which premiered on PBS on Nov. 16. Over the course of 12 hours, Burns (who’s also behind The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball and The U.S. and the Holocaust, among others) traces the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and beyond. The bulk of the series focuses on the eight-year War of Independence, featuring interviews with acclaimed writers and historians, as well as re-enactments (not something you’ll often see in Burns’s films). It also includes first-person narrations of nearly 200 historical Revolutionary War figures, voiced by a veritable who’s-who of Hollywood, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Clare Danes, Samuel L. Jackson, Laura Linney, Ethan Hawke and more.
The American Revolution marks the 250th anniversary of the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War, as well as this summer’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—on July 4, of course! So it’s the perfect time to brush up on your history and learn some fascinating facts you never knew.
In case you don’t have the time to watch the entire 12 hours right now, I’ve got you covered. (Though I highly recommend that you eventually work your way through the documentary, because it really is that good.) Read on for 12 interesting tidbits about what really went down in the battlefields and rooms where it happened.
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1. Democracy existed in America centuries before the Revolution, thanks to Native Americans
We all have this idea that the Founding Fathers are the ones who came up with the novel concept of democracy, the great American experiment. But the forefathers actually got the idea from the Iroquois Confederacy, a group of Native American nations that had already created a flourishing democracy several hundred years before the 13 British Colonies eventually became the United States.
In 1754, Benjamin Franklin put forth the idea of forming a federation similar to the Iroquois Confederacy and printed a cartoon of a snake cut into different pieces above the words “Join or Die.” Although he and other delegates from seven of the Colonies agreed to this unifying plan, it was rejected when it was presented to the Colonial legislatures. However, the idea endured, and 20 years later, “Join or Die” would become the rallying cry for the War of Independence, eventually leading to the establishment of the Constitution and our own democratic republic.
2. The Revolutionary War was America’s first civil war
The Civil War wasn’t the first war to pit brother against brother on the battlefield. As historian Alan Taylor explains in the series, “I think the greatest misconception about the American Revolution is that it was something that unified Americans, and that it was just a war of the Americans against the British. It leaves out the reality that it was a civil war among Americans.”
The main divide among the colonists was between the Loyalists, who were faithful to Great Britain, and the rebels, or patriots, who believed they were the defenders of liberty. The Loyalists dismissed the rebels as those who rejected the King’s legitimate authority, and in turn, the patriots thought of their monarch-supporting neighbors as the villains. Even Native Americans and African Americans found themselves taking sides. Native Americans mostly chose to fight with the Revolutionary forces, for fear of losing their land if the British won, though some decided to side with the Redcoats to seek the honors of war, settle old scores with hated colonists or receive British goods in payment of their service. Free, but not enslaved, African American men were welcome to join the colonists’ fight, while the British recruited enslaved men by offering them their freedom.
Another interesting fact? In the Continental Army, Black, White and Native American soldiers served together in regiments more integrated than American forces would be again for almost 200 years.
3. Women were major players in the resistance
When it comes to famous women in the Revolutionary years, the names Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher, Martha Washington and Abigail Adams probably come to mind. But while they made significant contributions to the cause, it was everyday Colonial women who proved to be the big power players.
Although women had little to no legal rights in the Colonies, they were the main consumers of British goods, which fueled the Crown’s economy. However, after England imposed high tariffs on glass, lead, paper, paint and tea in 1767, thousands of Colonial women took action against the unfair taxes by boycotting these products. They simply stopped drinking tea and ceased buying toys for their children, and instead of buying fabric, they made their own.
These women, called the Daughters of Liberty, put a real dent in the British economy. In one notable effort, a groundswell of women congregated in church groups to make their own homespun cloth, competing with one another to see which group could produce the most. The press jumped on this, praising the Daughters of Liberty as the most patriotic Americans. Historian Kathleen DuVal points out that if Colonial women hadn’t protested in this way, the eventual revolution wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
4. Quebec was almost the 14th American Colony
There’s been a whole lot of talk about Canada becoming the 51st state lately, but believe it or not, the idea of making Canada a part of the U.S. isn’t new. At the start of the war in 1775, Americans wanted to take control of British-occupied Canadian territories. The goal? To eliminate any military threat from the Brits and turn Canada into a Colony.
George Washington, then commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, put General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold (yes, that Benedict Arnold) in charge of capturing Montreal and Quebec City, respectively. But while Montgomery was able to secure Montreal, he and Arnold were badly defeated in Quebec City a month later. Outnumbered by the Redcoats, Montgomery was killed, Arnold was badly wounded, and hundreds of colonists were taken as prisoners, ending the dream of capturing Canada.
5. Washington ordered what’s believed to be the first mass inoculation in U.S. history
In the spring of 1776, smallpox hit America, affecting thousands of soldiers. The disease not only could cause scarring and blindness—it also had a high mortality rate. At the time, the protocol was either isolating patients or immunizing healthy people by infecting them with material from smallpox sores through a small incision. (I know, I know.)
At the outset, Washington was against inoculating his men. If he attempted this, his entire army would be incapacitated for weeks. However, after seven months of endless sickness and death, Washington reversed his decision. “Smallpox has made such headway in every quarter that I find it impossible to keep it from spreading through the whole army,” says Washington, voiced by actor Josh Brolin. “I shall order the doctors to inoculate the recruits as fast as they come in.”
Experts consider this the first large-scale inoculation campaign in America, and as historian Joseph Ellis says in this episode, it’s probably the single-most important military decision Washington ever made.
6. Alexander Hamilton spilled the tea about Benedict Arnold’s treachery
And now, back to Benedict Arnold. Before his name became synonymous with the word traitor, he was an invaluable officer in the Continental Army. He played a key role in early wins in the war, such as seizing the British-held Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and delivering a victory in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. George Washington considered Arnold one of his best commanders, and in 1780, put him in the prestigious position of being in charge of West Point.
But Washington realized there was something fishy going on when he came to inspect West Point on Sept. 25, 1780. Not only did Arnold fail to show up to greet him, but he was nowhere to be found. That evening, Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s right-hand man, officially informed Washington of Arnold’s defection to the enemy side. The evidence? He’d found a bundle of papers containing 17 months of damning correspondence between Arnold and higher-ups in the British army. The incriminating documents spelled out Arnold’s plan to sabotage the Americans by surrendering control of West Point to the English, then join their forces. By the time Hamilton handed over proof of Arnold’s treason, he was already on the run.
7. France wasn’t sure the Americans had a fighting chance
America desperately needed France’s help to win the war, but they needed some convincing that we had what it took before they took the plunge. Yes, France wanted to get back at the British after suffering a blistering defeat in the French and Indian War, aka the Seven Years’ War (1754 to 1763), but they needed to make sure the cause wasn’t hopeless.
It took the massive, humiliating defeat of the English in the Battle of Saratoga, where British General John Burgoyne and his men surrendered and were all taken as prisoners of war, to get them to commit. The French were impressed and believed enough in Washington and the Continental Army’s abilities to win that they officially joined the war, which ultimately became a global war, with Spain, Germany and the Netherlands all getting involved in various degrees and capacities. France also became the first country to publicly acknowledge our independence and existence as a nation, which was a pretty big deal.
8. George Washington was close to being replaced as commander-in-chief
George Washington wasn’t perfect or always on top of his game, and in the winter of 1777–1778, there were rumblings he was going to get booted from his position. During that cold winter, morale was low, uniforms were scarce, soldiers were hungry, sick, and had gone months without pay. Hundreds of men resigned from the army, deserted it or surrendered to the British. There was even talk among some Congress members of replacing him with another Continental Army General, Horatio Gates, whom Washington despised.
Washington knew people were losing faith in his leadership and had to do something. To provide his army with what it desperately needed, he appealed to both Congress and state governors for help. By doing so, he was able to acquire food, brand-new uniforms and plenty of artillery. This lifted spirits, and by the spring, any mutterings doubting his leadership had quelled.
9. A Prussian baron was the first person to formally train American troops
In February 1778, at the army’s headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Washington thought it was time to get his soldiers some formal military training. Along with improving morale and performance, this would end confusion on the battlefield. To do this, he hired Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, an experienced Prussian soldier who knew how to teach the art of war. Steuben accepted the job, presumably because he was penniless and his army career in Europe had come to a screeching halt. (That’s a sordid story in and of itself.) He also wanted to utilize his knowledge “in the service of a republic.”
In the beginning, the training was a bit of a disaster. Steuben was tough and hot-tempered, and his English was limited to one word: “Goddamn.” According to the documentary, when he was frustrated with the troops, he’d swear at them in German, then French, and then in both languages together. After exhausting himself with cursing out the soldiers, he’d ask his aides to come swear at the men in English! The men disliked him, found him very strict but also comical, and made fun of him.
Eventually, though, through consistent drilling, Steuben was able to pull the troops together, giving them a common purpose. After teaching them how to march in step, load ammunition more efficiently, move in columns, and shift into line and back again when under fire, he earned their respect and admiration.
10. There was a British plot to capture Thomas Jefferson
It’s hard to imagine how different U.S. history would be if Thomas Jefferson hadn’t survived the Revolutionary War. Believe it or not, that could have been a reality, since he came very close to being kidnapped by British troops.
In June 1781, Jefferson, then the governor of Virginia, was on his way to Charlottesville to meet up with members of the Virginia Assembly. What he didn’t know was that British General Charles Cornwallis had hatched a plan for his troops to capture Jefferson, along with any other state legislators they could find. Luckily, Jefferson was tipped off in the nick of time, allowing him to get away on horseback with only moments to spare.
11. The Declaration of Independence accused King George III of being a criminal
The Declaration of Independence is more than a proclamation of, well, independence that cut ties with Great Britain and established a sovereign nation. In fact, “most of the document is something else,” according to historian Alan Taylor. “It’s a list of crimes allegedly committed by the king.”
Following the famous preamble (you know, the whole “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” thing), the Declaration lays out 18 grievances in the form of crimes committed by King George, all meant to establish “absolute tyranny.” They include violating people’s rights by sending officers to harass them, imposing a standing army in peacetime, levying taxes without the colonists’ consent and waging war against them.
Of course, the colonists couldn’t exactly prosecute King George in court. The point of listing his crimes was to make it clear to the American people why independence was necessary—and the reason was that the king was now the enemy.
12. John Adams wanted the president to have a royal title
When it came time to choose the first chief executive of the U.S., it was a no-brainer. George Washington won the vote of every elector. But what should the new leader of America be called?
John Adams, who became the first vice president, thought Washington should have a royal or at least princely title, but Washington balked. He wasn’t looking to be a king or an emperor. After all, the whole point of the war was to do away with the monarchy. And so, Adams’s suggestion got kicked to the curb. President, it was!
Washington knew his title would set the tone for his position but also authenticate the legitimacy of the newly established federal government, with its system of checks and balances. It’s not clear if Adams had a majestic title picked out for himself, but he eventually became the second U.S. president and didn’t try to tinker with the title.
The American Revolution is now streaming on PBS.
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