The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (Oxford History of the United States)

774 Pages·1985·3.89 MB·English

by  Robert Middlekauff

THE GLORIOUS CAUSE
The American Revolution 1763-1789

ROBERT MIDDLEKAUFF
New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Oxford University Press Oxford London New York Toronto Delhi Bombay
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Copyright © 1982 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
First published in 1982 by Oxford University Press, Inc. 200 Madison
Avenue, New York, NY 10016
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1985
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of Oxford University Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Middlekauff, Robert.
The glorious cause. ( The Oxford history of the United States; v. 2)
Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-
1783. 2. United States -- Confederation, 1783-1789. I. Title. II. Series: Oxford
history of the United States; v. 2. E173.094 vol. 2 [E208] 973s 1973.31 81-9660
ISBN 0-19-50292-6 AACR2 ISBN 0-19-503575-5 (pbk.)
printing, last digit: 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 Printed in the United
States of America

For Holly
Inhalt
Preface. 6

Editor's Introduction. 8

Prologue The Sustaining Truths. 10

1 The Obstructed Giant. 13

II 15

III 17

IV.. 19

V.. 21

VI 23

VII 24

2 The Children of the Twice-Born. 27

II 28

III 31

IV.. 35

V.. 38

VI 41

3 Beginnings From the Top Down. 44

II 46

4 The Stamp Act Crisis. 60

II 65

III 70

5 Response. 79

II 89

6 Selden's Penny. 98

II 104
7 Chance and Charles Townshend. 112

II 114

III 117

8 Boston Takes the Lead. 125

II 132

III 139

9 The "Bastards of England". 142

II 142

III 145

IV.. 150

V.. 155

VI 162

10 Drift. 168

II 168

III 171

IV.. 173

11 Resolution. 177

II 181

III 184

IV.. 190

12 War. 199

II 200

III 206

13 "Half a War". 217

II 218

III 219

IV.. 222

V.. 230

VI 233

VII 236
VIII 244

IX. 247

14 Independence. 251

II 254

III 255

IV.. 257

V.. 263

VI 266

15 The War of Posts. 267

II 269

III 271

IV.. 279

16 The War of Maneuver. 290

II 292

III 295

IV.. 305

V.. 309

17 The Revolution Becomes a European War. 314

II 321

III 325

IV.. 332

V.. 338

VI 341

18 The War in the South. 343

II 344

III 346

IV.. 354

19 The "Fugitive War". 361

II 364

IV.. 388
20 Inside the Campaigns. 389

II 399

III 401

IV.. 407

V.. 411

21 Outside the Campaigns. 419

II 421

III 428

IV.. 430

V.. 435

22 Yorktown and Paris. 438

II 446

III 450

23 The Constitutional Movement. 455

II 456

III 461

24 The Children of the Twice-Born in the 1780s. 470

II 472

III 475

IV.. 481

V.. 484

25 The Constitutional Convention. 486

II 490

III 500

26 Ratification: An End and a Beginning. 507

II 510

III 515

Epilogue The Enduring Truths. 519

Preface
The title that I have given this book may be understood in this day -when all
is suspect -- as irony. I do not intend that it should be. The Americans, the
"common people," as well as soldiers and great leaders, who made the
Revolution against Britain believed that their cause was glorious -- and so do I.
But their cause, however glorious, had its inglorious sides, and the Americans'
manner of advancing it was sometimes false to the great principles they
espoused. And therefore, while I have tried to convey a sense of the
achievements of the Revolution, I have also pointed to its failures, and tried to
understand both achievements and failures and their peculiar relationship.

This book is largely a narrative. To be sure, several chapters and sections
within chapters analyze events with the intention of extracting meanings beyond
those narration reveals. But in the main, I have chosen to tell the story of the
Revolution in the belief that the process of reconstructing what happened may be
made to provide an explanation of events and their importance. The narrative
form, I believe, allows one to recover much that is central to an understanding of
the Revolution and to revive at least a part of the passions and commitments of
the people who struggled and fought. A narrative, moreover, can recapture some
of the movement of the years of conflict, movement which saw the cause grow
into something considered glorious by a people who came to recognize
themselves as set apart from others by Providence.

Some readers will note that I have not given a full discussion of foreign
affairs and the American West. These subjects will be treated further in the
volume following this one in the Oxford History of the United States. I have
concentrated on questions of governance, politics, constitutionalism, and on the
war. Historians who emphasize these matters often argue that the Americans'
desire to preserve rights was preeminent, and hence their Revolution was
conservative. In my account the Americans may appear especially conservative
because I have tied their convictions about rights and politics to their Protestant
past. The appearance does not correspond to reality. The Americans did wish to
preserve much from their past, but their struggle was not conservative, for it was
shot through with hope for the future. This hope was in part a millennial hope,
born of a conception of the world that was religious in origin. Nor was the
rejection of monarchy a conservative -or safe -- act. To conceive of a republic
and to fight for it in a world dominated by monarchy took daring and
imagination.

In the years that I have been engaged in writing this book I have incurred
many debts. I owe much to C. Vann Woodward, general editor of the Oxford
History of the United States. He has read my work and given me perceptive
criticism and thoughtful suggestions. Sheldon Meyer, Vice President of the
Oxford University Press, has been a supportive critic, and Leona Capeless,
Managing Editor, has improved what I have written by superb editing.
Early in my research I had the help of Michael Hindus and Lucy Kerman;
later on, Chuck Cohen, Wayne Carp, Michael Meranze, and Greg Schultz gave
me aid of several sorts. I am especially grateful to Charles Royster, my former
student and colleague, for a variety of suggestions about sources and for his
careful reading of much of what I have written. Paula Shields has helped in
several ways, and she and Kathleen Kook made the index. Kathleen Kook and
Miss Shields read much of the galley and page proofs.
Several colleagues at Berkeley -- William J. Bouwsma, Winthrop Jordan,
James Kettner, Nicholas Riasanovsky, Irwin Scheiner, and Thomas Smith -- also
read all or part of this book in manuscript and suggested ways of improving it.
Riasanovsky gave me especially detailed comments. James Kettner saved me
from a number of mistakes and gave both the final draft and all the proofs
extraordinarily close readings. I owe more than I can say to Kettner for this
assistance and for his thoughtful comments on my work.
Librarians at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Henry E.
Huntington Library and Art Gallery gave me much assistance. The Huntington
Library provided a marvelous setting for the writing of a part of this book. I
appreciate the kindness and support given me at the Huntington by its Director,
James Thorpe, and by the Senior Research Associate, Martin Ridge. Ray
Billington, whose recent death deprived the Library and American
historiography of a wonderful figure, helped me in many ways. It was at his and
Mr. Thorpe's suggestion that I gave a paper at a Huntington Research Seminar in
August 1977 based on the first section of Chapter 20. The Huntington Library
Quarterly published that paper as "Why Men Fought in the American
Revolution" ( Spring 1980). I am grateful to the editors for permission to use it
in slightly altered form in this book. At several other places in this book, I have
quoted from the rich collections found at the Huntington. The late Claude
Simpson first suggested that I might enjoy working at the Library. Simpson,
Thorpe, and Billington awarded me a Huntington Faculty Fellowship ( March-
September 1977) funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. My
debt to the Endowment is great: in 1973-74 I enjoyed a Senior Faculty
Fellowship it provided. I have also received support from the Humanities
Institute and the Committee on Research at the University of California. A part
of the manuscript was typed at the Institute of International Studies at Berkeley.
Early drafts of my manuscript were typed by two members of my family,
mentioned below, and by Katherine Klein, Dorothy Shannon, and Louise
Sullivan, who also did a skillful job on the final draft. Mrs. Shannon read proofs
and helped in other ways with unfailing good humor. Two men, Mick Pont and
Nate Norman, helped keep me going at a particularly difficult time, and though I
will never be able to repay them for their help, I do want to thank them.
Besides typing and reading what I wrote, Beverly and Holly Middlekauff --
my wife and daughter -- occasionally asked me when I was going to finish this
book. At no time did they ever imply that they thought I would not finish; and
they successfully concealed what must have been appalled surprise when they
saw its length. For their discretion, and for much else, I am grateful to them.
Berkeley
R. M.
September 1981