Bradley - It happened in the Revolutionary War: stories of events and people that shaped American history

Michael R. Bradley received a PhD in United States History from Vanderbilt University in 1970. He taught at Motlow College in Tennessee from 1970 to 2006, when he retired. He continues to be active in writing and lecturing. Dr. Bradley is the author of twenty-two books dealing with U.S. history, including It Happened in the Civil War , Civil War Myths and Legends , It Happened in the Great Smokies , and Death in the Great Smoky Mountains , all published by Globe Pequot Press. He is currently at work on Great Smokies Myths and Legends to be published by Globe Pequot.

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I honor William Bradley, who fought and was
wounded at Kings Mountain. I am glad the wound
was not fatal, or I would not be here to write this.

There was once a time when giants walked abroad in this land. All of us who are citizens of the United States, and everyone anywhere who loves liberty, are their descendants.

They were not perfect, those men and women of the Revolutionary War era. Some of them were fearful, some were self-seeking, some wavered in their devotion to the cause of freedom. But they produced a nation that has become a beacon set on a hill, beckoning to all who want to walk toward freedom. The nation those men and women produced has not been, and is not, a perfect nation, but millions of Americans would prefer to awake no place else.

In this book you will meet some of the people of that Revolutionary age: men, women, even children, of all races, some of whom measured up to the challenge of birthing a nation and some who failed in the attempt to do their share. We can take pride in those who were patriots, and we can learn even from those who failed.

In this book the word American is not often used. During the Revolutionary War, American was used to designate any resident of any of the British colonies in North America, including Canada and the Caribbean. American referred to a place of residence, not citizenship. When the war began, everyone in the colonies was British so far as citizenship was concerned. A new meaning for the word American had to be invented. While our ancestors were inventing that meaning, they called themselves Patriots and the army the Continentals. The British called us Rebels and other things totally unfit for print. Only gradually did American come to denote a citizen of the United States and a certain set of political ideals.

The original thirteen states were not strongly united either. At the same time that they declared their independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress drew up, and submitted to the states for ratification, a document called the Articles of Confederation. Under the terms of this agreement, each state retained its sovereignty, and practically no power was given to the central government. Our original national government was a states rights confederacy. As a result of this form of government, the treaty ending the Revolutionary War was not negotiated between Great Britain and the United States of America but between Britain and thirteen sovereign entities, each listed in the treaty by name. Not until 1789 did we alter this arrangement between the states and national government by writing the Constitution of the United States of America, one purpose of which was to create a more perfect union.

Whether your ancestors helped found Jamestown, stubbed their toe on Plymouth Rock, came ashore on Ellis Island, or arrived just the other day, the men and women of this book are your political ancestors. They helped give us what we have as Americans.