How Revolutionary was the American Revolution?
After the French and Indian War, the British Empire was deeply in debt and turned to the colonies to help pay it off. Why did these reforms upset the Americans (and what role did actual and virtual representation play)? How did the Americans protest these reforms? Please read Gordon Note on Mobs in the American Revolution. In what ways were mobs, boycotts, and pamphlets advocating republicanism (most famously Common Sense) radical?
Another revolutionary aspect is how the Americans won the war. What role did the minute men and the militia play in the conflict? What was the regular army under George Washington motivated by? How smart was to turn the war into a defensive war of attrition that pitted the British troops against the American people?
