American Revolution | Liberty or Death | 1

0:00Liz Covart:Hello, American History Teller listeners. I have an exciting announcement. I'm going on tour and coming to a theater near you. This live show is a thrilling evening of history, storytelling, and music, with a full band accompanying me as we look back to explore the days that made America. And they aren't the days that you might think. Sure, everyone knows July 4th, 1776. We'll be hearing a lot about that date this year. But there are many other days that are maybe even more influential. So come out to see me live. More shows to be announced soon. So for information on tickets and upcoming dates, go to AmericanHistoryLive.com.

0:34Liz Covart:That's AmericanHistoryLive.com. Come see my Days That Made America tour live on stage. Go to AmericanHistoryLive.com.

0:48Liz Covart:Imagine it's the night of April 18th, 1775. You're a major in the British Army, and you're galloping down a country road outside Lexington, Massachusetts, with a small contention of soldiers. Tomorrow morning, you're planning to seize colonial munitions stored in the nearby town of Concord, part of a move to crack down on rising defiance in the colonies. But right now, your objective is to overtake a lone colonist racing down the road ahead of you. You know Patriot spies are everywhere, and you can't risk word of your plans getting out, so you spur your men on, fanning out to hem in the rider and force him to pull up short.

1:25Liz Covart:With a tug of your reins, you close the ring around him and draw your pistol. I order you to dismount. The rider swings down from his saddle in a smooth motion and raises his hands in a defensive gesture, but you keep your pistol steady. Who are you? My name is Revere. What, you don't mean Paul Revere? The very same? You trade knowing glances with the others. Revere's reputation as a rabble-rouser is known to every British soldier in Boston. You can't believe your luck. And what are you doing galloping through the countryside in the middle of the night? Well, what business is it of yours? In my experience, when a man is riding that fast, it is usually because he has something to hide.

2:04Liz Covart:A hint of unease crosses Revere's face before he gathers himself and squares his shoulders. I have nothing to hide. And what gives you the right to detain a peaceful citizen? The authority of His Majesty King George III. Now answer my question. I hope you know you're not going to achieve your goal tonight. Your heartbeat quickens. You wonder whether the rebels have discovered your plans for Concord, but you keep yourself composed. I don't know what you mean. We're patrolling the road in search of deserters. Oh, you're lying about that. I know what you're after, but it's no use. I've already warned every village and farm along this road.

2:39Liz Covart:and it won't be long until 500 militiamen are gathered in Concord. You tighten your grip on your pistol, your thumb twitching over the hammer. Sir, tell the truth or I'll scatter your brains in the dirt. I'm not afraid of you and I am telling the truth. How about you do the same? Search him for weapons. What was that? Revere grins, his eyes full of mischief. Well, it's a signal volley, a warning for every minute man in earshot. You exchange uneasy glances with your fellow officers, and a creeping fear takes hold. If Revere isn't lying, and the rebels have discovered your plans, instead of raiding a stockpile tomorrow morning, you'll be marching into battle.

3:24David Crowther:As Americans, we're constantly grappling with the fundamental question. Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we strive to create the world as it should be? Our answers tend to ebb and flow through the decades. But once, just after a war that nearly tore us apart, we came as close as we've come to answering it. And it's a story worth a closer look. I'm Michelle Obama, and I'm proud to announce Higher Ground's new podcast, Reconstruction, The Unfinished Promise. Guided by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell and featuring my husband, Barack Obama, this limited series uncovers the untold stories of Reconstruction, what they mean for us today, and how our past can shape the future we choose to build.

4:14David Crowther:Reconstruction, the unfinished promise, is available now on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Raza Jaffray, and in the new season of The Spy Who, we open the file on Benedict Arnold, the spy who betrayed the American Revolution. America is fighting to free itself from the British Empire, and one of its foremost generals is Benedict Arnold. He's a smuggler turned battlefield hero and admired for his aggressive tactics. But when a war wound, a new wife, debts and politics test his loyalty to the max, He turns spy and devises a plot to shatter the revolution and help Britain capture rebel commander in chief General George Washington.

5:01David Crowther:And that plot would make him the most infamous traitor in US history. Follow The Spy Who now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who Betrayed the American Revolution early and ad-free on Audible.

5:28Liz Covart:From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers, our history, your story.

5:50Liz Covart:On our show, we take you to the events, the times, and the people that shape America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. We'll put you in the shoes of everyday people as history was being made, and we'll show you how the events of the times affected them, their families, and affects you now. On the night of April 18, 1775, British soldiers arrested colonial silversmith Paul Revere near Lexington, Massachusetts. He had ridden all night from Boston, spreading the word that the British were planning to raid a stockpile of colonial munitions. The next day, British soldiers and American militiamen clashed at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the culmination of a decade of tensions over taxes, representation, and imperial control.

6:35Liz Covart:And as colonial resistance escalated into open revolt, 13 colonies joined together to break the bonds of British rule and found a new nation, the United States of America. But from the start, the odds were stacked against them. For eight long years, an amateur American army battled the world's greatest military power in a war defined by immense sacrifice and devastating loss. But the American Revolution was not merely a conflict between the American colonies and the British Empire. It was also a brutal civil war that tore families and neighbors apart. It was a war fought in pursuit of the highest ideals of freedom and equality, and it was also a ruthless contest over land, power, and loyalty, one that preserved slavery and dispossessed Native Americans, stark reminders of the limits of revolutionary ideals.

7:26Liz Covart:At a time when most of the Western world was ruled by kings, thousands of ordinary people risked everything to found a republic on the radical idea of self-rule. The American Revolution was unlike anything the world had ever seen, upending old powers, shattering centuries of tradition, and giving birth to a bold experiment in democracy by putting sovereignty in the hands of the people. This is Episode 1 in our six-part series on the American Revolution, Liberty or Death.

7:58Liz Covart:On July 3, 1754, a 22-year-old major in the Virginia militia led 300 men in a losing battle deep in the wilderness of the Ohio Territory. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Virginians took refuge in a crude circular stockade dubbed Fort Necessity. Heavy rain poured down as they faced relentless fire from hundreds of French and Indian enemy marksmen. By the late afternoon, rain had flooded the fort and soaked the defenders' powder and muskets. So with ammunition exhausted and a third of his force killed or wounded, the young Major had no choice but to surrender. His name was George Washington. Ambitious but inexperienced, he had just suffered one of the worst days of his young life, his first military defeat in a skirmish that marked the start of the French and Indian War.

8:48Liz Covart:This was a conflict that had been brewing for years. By 1754, growing white settlement in the Ohio River Valley sparked a war between Great Britain and France and their Native American allies. Virginia leaders ordered Washington to lead a militia to the Ohio country to defend British claims. But despite his bruising defeat at Fort Necessity, his superiors gave him a second chance, and over the next few years he cut his teeth as a military leader. By the time he retired from the militia four years later, in 1758, he had learned invaluable lessons about discipline, alliance building, and adaptability, experience he would carry with him in the years to come.

9:27Liz Covart:Several years later, in 1763, the French and Indian War ended in a decisive British victory. In the aftermath, France was forced to hand over nearly all of its North American territorial claims, including the resource-rich, strategically vital Ohio River Valley. Britain's triumph sparked celebrations throughout the 13 British colonies. From New England to the Carolinas, colonists rang church bells and lit bonfires to mark the dawn of a new era of peace and prosperity. Their optimism was fueled in part by America's explosive growth. The population of the 13 colonies had doubled every 25 years, and by the time of the war's end in 1763, the colonies were home to nearly 2 million people, including Native Americans, enslaved laborers, and settlers from a wide range of European nations.

10:14Liz Covart:But along with their ethnic diversity, the colonies were also shaped by extraordinary geographic differences. In the tightly-knit communities of New England, harsh winters and rocky soil resulted in an economy centered around small family farms, fishing, and trade. The mid-Atlantic colonies had a mixed economy and a high level of religious tolerance that attracted Quakers and Jews. In the South, a warm climate and fertile soil fostered the growth of large plantations powered by enslaved labor with a focus on high-value crops like tobacco and rice. But despite these differences, colonial Americans were bound by their strong sense of British identity.

10:53Liz Covart:They read British books, wore British clothes, and spoke proudly of their contributions to the growing British Empire. In 1760, leading colonist Benjamin Franklin wrote, I have long been of the opinion that the foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the British Empire lie in America. Franklin pointed to the colony's vast resources and remarkable population growth as key drivers of British wealth and power. But unlike Britain, where a small elite owned most of the land and many lived as dependents, white colonists in America viewed ownership of land and property as the foundation of their personal freedom.

11:28Liz Covart:Looking west, they saw a vast terrain, ripe for settlement, and many looked forward to the day when white settlers would occupy the entire continent. And one man building wealth off this westward expansion was George Washington. After making a name for himself fighting in the French and Indian War, he'd married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, and the newlyweds had moved to Mount Vernon, the tobacco plantation Washington inherited in northern Virginia. And as he threw himself into life as a planter, he purchased slaves and expanded his estate. He also became an avid speculator in western land, eventually buying up more than 50 ,000 acres, and he encouraged others to do the same, advising one of his neighbors that in the west, an enterprising man with very little money may lay the foundation of a noble estate.

12:14Liz Covart:But despite Washington and others' rosy visions of upward mobility, the reality remained that most of the continent was still controlled by Native people. As white settlers streamed into the Ohio River Valley, their encroachment on Native lands sparked a widespread uprising in the summer of 1763 known as Pontiac's Rebellion. Indian nations attacked British forts and settlements, defending their lands and autonomy. And in response to this violence, the British government handed down a proclamation in October 1763 declaring all land west of the Appalachians off-limits to white settlement and speculation.

12:50Liz Covart:Their intent was to rein in frontier violence and defend the sovereignty of their native allies. But by drawing a line down the continent, the British threatened the ambitions of land-hungry colonists. And they soon discovered that a measure designed to promote peace and stability had become a source of bitter resentment.

13:11Liz Covart:Imagine it's a cold, snowy morning in January 1764 in the Ohio Territory. You're a British soldier on horseback, patrolling the woods a few miles south of Fort Pitt. You're occupied by thoughts of returning to your lodgings to warm up with a glass of sherry when you come upon a campsite where a trio of settlers are laying out the perimeter of a log cabin. A bearded man wearing a patched coat drops his axe in the snow and beckons you over. Oh, soldier, I'm glad you're here. I've got a bone to pick with you. With the pull of the reins, you bring your horse to a stop in front of the settler. There's an Indian down the creek who keeps pestering me.

13:46Liz Covart:He says this isn't my land, and he's been threatening me. You breathe a heavy sigh. Well, I'm afraid he's correct. You have no claim to this land. But I bought it fair and square. I can show you the deed, and I've spent all winter clearing it with my own two hands. Well, that doesn't change the fact that by order of the crown, this land is reserved for the Shawnee. Any purchases of restricted territory are now invalid. Invalid? Whatever happened to the spoils of victory? I fought in the war, you know. I should have every right to this land. Well, His Majesty disagrees. I understand your frustration, of course, but this region is off-limits to settlement.

14:21Liz Covart:So then what? You just going to let the savages run wild? Those so-called savages are allies. It would be unwise to antagonize them. You and your friends need to pack up your things and leave this area. Oh, and go where? I don't care where you go. just as long as it's back east over the mountains, and I'll be back in a few days with a detachment of soldiers to see that you obey. With a flick of the reins, you turn your horse away from the settler, but not before you see him raise his fist. You come and try. This is my land, and I won't be leaving. You ride away, feeling exhausted by having to police people who insist they own any piece of soil their boots touch.

15:02Liz Covart:They curse you every chance they get, but they still expect you to protect them from the Indians. It seems to you that if this is what loyalty looks like out on the frontier, the Crown will spend more money restraining its own colonists than it ever did fighting the French.

15:19Liz Covart:When the colonists received news of the 1763 Proclamation, many were outraged, especially those who believed they'd earned the right to settle in the Western lands after fighting in the French and Indian War. The Crown's new policy forced settlers to abandon their farms and homesteads, but it also threatened the fortunes of wealthy land speculators like George Washington. But Washington had no intention of giving up his investments, so he dismissed the proclamation as a temporary measure designed to quiet the minds of the Indians and continued purchasing Western land. He was not the only one. Britain struggled to enforce the proclamation as settlers ignored its boundaries and pushed westward anyway, resentful that distant powers in London were trying to control their lives.

16:01Liz Covart:And the colonists' resentments were not unfounded. The Proclamation of 1763 was part of a broader British government effort to reform the empire and redefine relations with the North American colonies. Behind that broader effort was Britain's reigning monarch, King George III, who had ascended to the throne three years earlier at the age of 22. But despite his elevated status, George was a man of simple tastes. He preferred plain food and modest clothes, and he refused to wear a wig despite prevailing fashions. He loved architecture, music, and collecting books, and he was widely admired as a devoted husband and family man.

16:38Liz Covart:More than anything, he saw himself as a benevolent monarch, declaring that he strove to preserve the freedom, happiness, and glory of my dominions and all their inhabitants. But his lofty ideals collided with the practical realities of managing a far-flung empire, which not only included the Thirteen Colonies, but the far more valuable sugar islands of the Caribbean, as well as important economic footholds in India. And after the French and Indian War, the king's ministers resolved to tighten control over the fast-growing American colonies and raise new revenue. Britain had left 10 ,000 troops in America to police the frontier and defend the 1763 Proclamation.

17:16Liz Covart:But the war had nearly doubled Britain's national debt, straining its ability to maintain such a costly military presence. So ultimately, the king's ministers concluded that Americans should help pay for their own defense, and that meant new taxes. In 1764, British Prime Minister George Grenville pushed through the Sugar Act, imposing taxes on Caribbean imports such as molasses. Because the law mainly affected merchants, opposition was largely confined to the heavily mercantile colonies of New England. But Grenville drew more controversy when, in February 1765, Parliament handed down the Stamp Act.

17:53Liz Covart:This law, set to take effect on November 1st of that year, would require all colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used, from newspapers and legal documents to playing cards. In Britain, taxpayers had paid a stamp tax for more than 50 years, but the Stamp Act was the first time Parliament planned to tax the 13 colonies directly. And when news of the Stamp Act arrived in Virginia that spring, a 29-year-old frontier lawyer named Patrick Henry led the opposition. Henry had only been a member of Virginia's Colonial Assembly for nine days, but in May 1765, he took to the floor with a fiery speech, accusing Parliament of taxation without representation.

18:35Liz Covart:Colonists were accustomed to the Colonial Assemblies instituting taxes and local laws, but they had no representatives in the British Parliament in London. Henry argued that the Stamp Act, a direct tax on printed material imposed by a parliament in which Virginians had no voice, was an assault on their rights under the British Constitution. But when he hinted that King George risked the same fate as the assassinated Roman dictator Julius Caesar, a conservative colleague accused him of treason. Nevertheless, a furious Henry refused to back away from his statement, crying out, if this be treason, make the most of it.

19:11Liz Covart:After a heated debate, the Virginia House approved the mildest four of Henry's seven resolutions, uncontroversial statements affirming that the colonists possessed the same rights as subjects living in Britain, including taxation by consent. But newspaper editors across the colonies printed all seven resolutions, including the most radical, in which Patrick Henry asserted that only the Virginian Assembly could tax Virginians. By printing all seven resolutions, the press suggested that the entire assembly endorsed Henry's argument, casting their protest in a more extreme light. And as reports spread, pressure grew on other colonial assemblies to respond in kind.

19:49Liz Covart:And colonial legislators weren't the only ones to object to the new taxes. In 1765, there were two dozen newspapers in colonial America, then one of the most literate societies in the world, and their printers and editors had a personal stake in a law that tax printed material. So not only did the Stamp Act directly threaten their livelihoods, they also saw it as an attempt by Parliament to stifle dissent. Printers warned that the tax might mean the death of newspapers, and with them, the death of liberty. So as summer turned to fall in 1765, cries of taxation without representation spread like wildfire in taverns and town squares, igniting protests and mob violence.

20:29Liz Covart:For the first time in their history, the Thirteen Colonies would begin to form a united front against Imperial power.

20:59David Crowther:Cut off your head! Oh no, maybe just tell them about the guest stars like Richard Kind, Carrie Coon, Jimmy Fallon, at all. But they were in it, and if you don't listen to them, then I will cut off your tongue, then cut off your head, and then put the tongue in the head hole. Aw, you tried. Listen now exclusively on Audible and Donald the Audible app today, or off with your head! I'm kidding.

21:36Liz Covart:In the summer of 1765, a new leader emerged in Boston, Massachusetts, galvanizing opposition to the Stamp Act. Samuel Adams had failed as a brewer only to find his calling in political propaganda, and he was determined to take a stand against the Stamp Act, which he saw as nothing short of tyranny. With his rumpled clothes, weak voice, and trembling hands, Adams rarely struck a memorable first impression. But despite his unassuming exterior, few could rival his courage and tenacity. He was deeply sensitive to any infringements on colonial rights and declared that his mission was to keep the attention of his fellow citizens awake to their grievances and not let them rest till the causes of their just complaints are removed.

22:20Liz Covart:Or, as one of his rivals put it, Adam eats little, drinks little, sleeps little, thinks much, and is most decisive and indefatigable in the pursuit of his objects. In the summer of 1765, Adams channeled these energies into a new secret organization made up of radical merchants and artisans. They called themselves the Sons of Liberty, and together they turned outcry into action by staging protests, boycotts, and attacks on tax collectors. On August 14, 1765, the Sons of Liberty focused their anger on local tax agent Andrew Oliver. First, they hung an effigy of Oliver in the branches of a large elm tree in Boston Common, which soon became known as the Liberty Tree.

23:02Liz Covart:Then, after dark, crowds stormed the streets, burned the effigy, and descended on Oliver's home, ready to tear it apart.

23:13Liz Covart:Imagine it's late at night on August 14, 1765 in Boston. You're the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, and you've dragged the sheriff with you to the home of your brother-in-law, local tax collector Andrew Oliver. You warned London officials that the Stamp Act was a terrible idea, and now your worst fears have come to pass. A mob has wrecked Oliver's home and used his furniture to start a raging bonfire. You step forward into the light of the blaze, feeling the heat on your face. Good people, good people, I must ask you to disperse at once. This is unlawful assembly. A few heads turn, and a man clutching a broken chair holds your gaze.

23:53Liz Covart:Liberty, property, and no stamps. Property? You speak of property while you destroy a man's home. Burn his things to ashes. Mr. Oliver has done nothing but obey the law. Aye, a law that pleases Parliament, passed without the consent of this colony. And this is your remedy? Destruction? This is how you show regard for the rights you claim to defend? This is justice. No, it is not, sir. Go home, all of you. You glance back at the sheriff for help. Do something. But the sheriff is busy scanning the scene for an escape route. You turn back to the rioter, only to realize that he's taken a step closer.