Episode 325: Woody Holton, Everyday People of the American Revolution

What do we know about the American Revolution? Why is it important that we see the Revolution as a political event, a war, a time of social and economic reform, and as a time oviolence and upheaval?

Woody Holton, a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and the author of Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution, joins us to explore and discuss answers to these questions so that we can better see and understand the American Revolution as a whole event.

This episode is supported by an American Rescue Plan grant to the Omohundro Institute from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Woody Holton, a Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and the author of Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution, joins us to explore and discuss why it is important to view the many parts of the American Revolution together as a whole event.

During our exploration, Woody reveals what Woody sees as the primary cause of the American Revolution; The event Woody sees as the start of the American Revolution; And details about several events of the American Revolution that we’ve yet to explore on this podcast.

What You’ll Discover

What prompted Woody to write a comprehensive history of the Revolution
Ideas about the primary cause of the American Revolution
The role of slavery in the Revolution
“Informal” alliance between Blacks and the British Army
Formal alliances between Native Americans and the British Army
When the American Revolution began
Economic origins of the American Revolution
Nonimportation/nonexportation Movements
Regulator Movements in North Carolina and South Carolina
Gaspee Affair, June 1772
The Navigation Acts as an origin of the American Revolution
Why historians divide the War for Independence into two phases
The “turning point battle” of the War for American Independence
The Battle of King’s Mountain, 1780
Life on the homefront during the War for Independence
Disease and the War for Independence
Boston Coffee Riot, 1777

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Woody Holton
Woody on Twitter
Liberty is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution
Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause
Gary Nash, The Unknown American Revolution
Alan Taylor, American Revolutions
James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom
T. Cole Jones, Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution
Simon Schama, Rough Crossings: The Slaves, the British, and the American Revolution
Benjamin Quarles, The Negro and the American Revolution
Cassandra Pybus, Epic Journeys of Freedom: Runaway Slaves of the American Revolution and their Global Quest for Liberty
Gerald Horne, The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America
Countdownto1619
Mary Beth Norton, Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800
Marjoleine Kars, Breaking Loose Together: The Regulator Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina
John Bell

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Congress had selected Artemas Ward of Massachusetts instead of George Washington of Virginia as head of the Continental Army in June 1775? How might the American Revolution have been different?