In Washington Irving's History of New Amsterdam he says there were no problems for 150 years... then they formed a government and the troubles started.
Much of New Jersey was also colonized by the Dutch. Van Syckle's tavern is right down the road from me and was built a few decades before the Revolution. I'd bet good money that the Van Syckle family has been here since about 1600. Dutch harvesting of oysters around Jersey City absolutely destroyed the ecosystem as they were unwilling to abide by the limits that the Lenape had used for centuries in regard to annual harvesting.
The physical signs of this act of rebellion are still visible today at New York's Bowling Green Park: the fence posts around the statue were topped with finials prior to July 9, 1776, the day the statue was torn down. The fence is still there. So are the marks on the tops of the posts where the finials were sawn off and melted into musket balls, along with King George's statue.
To answer a few of your questions, The part in the south that is now Florida, at the time of the Revolution was Spanish owned. The northern part, now the state of Maine, was a part of Massachusetts until 1820, when it became the state of Maine. Because of the tax on tea, Americans started drinking coffee, which is why more people here drink coffee than hot tea. New York was first settled by the Dutch and Delaware was first settled by the swedes. Those colonists weren't completely untrained. Every colony had militias. They were actually created to fight Native Americans. In some cities, towns, and villages it was required for every adult male to own a gun. They had very little training, essentially, show up with your gun, fire, and run or reload. Since you are German, let me tell you about the most important German that was on our side. His name was Baron Von Steuben. He claimed to be a Baron, but history has since found that he wasn't. He was sent by Benjamin Franklin to assist Washington in training our army. He brought his French interpreter with him. He was a drill instructor. He would bark out orders or cuss men out in German. His interpreter would say it, cuss words and all, in French. Then the Marquis de Lafayette, who was French and Washington's aide, would repeat it in English, cuss words and all. Von Steuben wrote a drill manual for the USA that is still used today, with stuff added to modernize it
Slight errata regarding Florida; at the time or the revolution it was British controlled and had been since the seven years war (aka French and Indian war). Britain ceded it back to Spain in the peace treaty following the revolutionary war. It was later acquired by the United States from Spain in 1819.
The main reason we drink tea is due to the fact that it has more caffeine than tea. The Boston Tea party wasn’t exactly common knowledge to people for most of American history and if it was, I doubt most people would have been influenced by it.
@@Perfectly_Cromulent351 no, it was the price increase on tea that caused people to drink coffee, they knew nothing about caffeine. And if you don't think most people knew about tea boycotts, then why does the Museum of the Revolution, of which I was a volunteer until health prevented it, have newspapers from ALL the colonies telling people to drink coffee?. No one knew what caffeine was yet
My wife's BFF is married to a German national, and Sam Adams is his favorite mass-market American beer. He prefers micro-brews, but it he's going to get beer at a supermarket on the way home, it will be Sam Adams.
It is important to remember that at the outbreak of the war they were not fighting for independence. Many of the colonists were 5+ generations in the colonies, but they still considered themselves British. They were fighting to be treated as full English citizens, with a voice in how they were governed. They were willing to lay down their lives for liberty, but were not seeking independence (yet). The taxes were offensive to them not for how high they were (they were not that high), but because English common law guaranteed a person being taxed the right to help decide how they were taxed. But as a colonist they didn't have representation in parliament. Representation was a difficult matter. With the American population approaching 50% of that of England and growing fast adding the American colonists representatives directly to parliament would be a major shake-up in the balance of power. And to make matters worse, if land ownership was used in any formula for calculating representation the massive amount of land in the American colonies could turn them all into voters. Intelligent people foresaw an England where the population at home would become a minority dominated by British citizens living outside of the homeland. There were attempts at compromise, but they were poorly designed and failed. Another thing to understand is that each colony was effectively a corporation from the English point of view. They often treated each separately and the colonists themselves had little loyalty collectively. When dealing with the post-7 Years War issues Franklin advocated that the colonies needed to negotiate collectively. Many of the images used during the war were based not on rebellion, but on failed attempts at collective bargaining, like the chopped up snake "Join or Die" isn't about joining the army. George Washington was an officer in the colonial army, not the redcoats. After the 7 years war (We call it the French and Indian War in the U.S.) Washington wanted a commission in the royal army, but was rejected... again, 2nd class citizen. It is very important to understand that George Washington did not join the continental army to fight for independence. He and most others felt that they were fighting for their rights as English citizens when the conflict started. Kill each other for a few months and the idea of independence became more popular - but it never became extremely popular. Most people just wanted the fighting to stop regardless of outcome. I do living history presentations and sometimes portray a loyalist. It is surprising to Americans today to learn that the idea of independence wasn't popular at first - they're fooled by the modern media into thinking we hated England. We didn't - we hated parliament - and who doesn't at any point in history? This was a civil war, with families being very split on the issues. Brothers fought brothers, literally at times.
Excellent analysis. I believe that public opinion in the colonies was split 3 ways--1/3 Patriot, 1/3 Loyalist, 1/3 non-aligned--with each colony providing troops for both sides. We must also remember that there were powerful voices in Parliament who opposed the war and wanted some kind of accommodation, but it was the King's ministers who wanted to prosecute the War. Thus, it was the Ministers (not the King, not England and not even Parliament) who were despised.
@Paulschirf9259 "Intelligent people foresaw an England where the population at home would become aminority dominated by British citizens living outside of the homeland." I've never seen this mentioned before nor had I ever considered it. It makes a lot of sense. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
My 7th great-grandfather James Gorsline was a Loyalist in upstate New York. After refusing to sign the Oath of Allegiance, he was initially sent to Exeter, NH, along with several other Loyalists, but most of them returned home over the next few months. James continued to talk against the Revolution, and was eventually thrown onto a prison ship near Kingston, NY. He spent three weeks there before emerging and agreeing to sign. He remained in New York even after the war, so he must have made his peace with it.
Two fun facts. 1: The reason coffee is so popular in America is because of the British taxing tea. The colonists turned to drinking coffee in protest. 2: Paul Revere never said, "The British are coming." He said, "The regulars are coming" since the colonists were still British subjects.
In the tv show Sleepy Hollow, the character Ichabod Crane (in this version a British officer who joins the colonists) has come back to life in the modern world, and is taken to a Revolutionary War museum, where he's listening to a tour guide tell a group of school children that Revere said "The British are coming." Crane impatiently corrects the tour guide, saying, "We were all British then, so saying the British are coming would be most unhelpful." (Not a direct quote).
When I taught fourth grade that sentence about "The British are coming" was in our textbooks, and it annoyed me. Every year when we got to that part I would stop and ask my 9-year-old students if something about that statement didn't look right. Sometimes I needed to give a hint by reminding them to look at the dates, but most of the time they'd figure it out and ask, "Wait a minute, weren't we still British at that point?"
Chris, you're partially correct. Fighting for 8 years against the British convinced most people that no government was to be entirely trusted, and the only way to insure freedom was to allow everyone to defend themselves by force of arms. Armed citizens were known as the militia. Hence, the Second Amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." And thus, we have a saying: "When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have freedom." Americans may support our government. But the people in the government are our EMPLOYEES, not our rulers. And one of the purposes of the Second Amendment is to make sure that everyone REMEMBERS that.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to be as well armed as the Government since 1934. The National Firearms act outlawed private ownership of automatic firearms. And has been amended to include: Explosive weapons, and rocket propelled weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, commonly known as the ATF, has been given a lot of power without any input from the people.
@@sakisaotome6753Istanbul, not Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works, that's nobody's business but the Turks.
That's nowadays, but originally, it was so settlers could defend them selfs from native Americans. The irony is that it was the British strategy to save money on defense
Quick answer to one of your questions: No England was not protecting us. They were protecting their financial interests. They saw the colonies as theirs.
Well to be fair, the colonies WERE theirs. And the colonists even considered themselves British until part way through the war. At the start the American colonists just wanted to make the British respect their rights as subjects of the British Crown, which the colonists felt were being ignored. It wasn't until after the fighting had broken out and the British refused peace that independence was seriously considered.
@@mitchelltyler5972 If the colonies weren't valuable, they wouldn't protect them. They didn't care about the colonists as people. They cared about them as bags of money. There's a difference.
yep what most Germans and most Americans don't know, is Von Steuben, a German, turned the militia of the USA into a fighting force that could go toe to toe with the British Army. What most American's also don't know is the French provided not just material aid but direct military assistance (like they are doing in Ukraine today) to the colonies. The French Navy helped out tremendously.
The exact wording of the second amendment; "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." It's a little confusing because of the old-time talk, but it boils down to 'people should be able to defend themselves and their property from those who would want to unlawfully take them/it by force.' There was also an idea floating around at the time where the national army would be disbanded and the population was expected to defend themselves, and state-sponsored militias would be formed in times of crisis. That whole idea fell apart during the War of 1812 and the national army was reinstated, but the prospect of citizens being able to defend themselves and their property remains a big part of American culture to this day.
Both the Prussian Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (on the side of the colonies), and mercenaries from Hesse-Kassel (on the side of Great Britain) fought in the American Revolution. Von Steuben was instrumental in teaching the Colonial Army how to train soldiers.
@@tlockerkYou’re correct. I saw different numbers for how many settled in the US and Canada at the war’s end, but it seems to have been a few thousand at least.
I had German ancestors who owned a farm in Western NJ who served in the NJ forces against Britain during the Revolution (they had also served in the French & Indian War)
A lesser known but critical contribution by German immigrants during the Revolution was the Pennsylvania Long Rifle. German gunsmiths introduced rifling to the settlers in Appalachia. This was a massive improvement over the smooth bore muskets used by the English.
Yeah nothing caused more havoc during revolution then these proto-snipers and the disregard of honorable combat as they took out The British chain of command.
How can you force somebody to import something? By controlling all of the boats. The English had the trading companies. They had a trade plan where they extracted all the raw resources from their colonies, shipped them back to England for processing, and then sent them out again. This made some products ridiculously expensive in the US colonies. And what was more infuriating was that the colonies know that some of these places like the islands with the sugar, we really nearby and we could just go over there and get sugar direct, but England wouldn't allow it. This is why, pre-Revolution, the US had a disproportionate amount of smugglers. Because if Britain wasn't going to allow us to have sugar and other raw goods, we were going to go out and get it ourselves. I mean, I suppose we could have just not had sugar and other goods. But we really wanted them, and England was being really stupid about making its shipping lines inefficient in an effort to take all of the wealth of the colonies for itself, even from people who wanted to be loyal citizens. We just refused to accept that the cotton needed to be shipped from South Carolina to England to be made into cloth to be sold in New York when New York had plenty of factories of its own for making cloth and it was less risky, and also who wants to pay for shipping twice?
Short answer - guns and the willingness to use them to enforce whatever you want. Crazy concept. The rest is just logistics of where and who to make those facts known and everything falls into place sans occasional rebellion and making examples in response. Note, this solution only scales by the factor of superior force you have, dwindling to nothing quicky when you no longer have enough superiority to be willing to stress test your margin of error in your assessment and just hope no one stress tests it out for you. Like, a rebellion.
All correct. However, even if you control the boats, you can't _make_ someone buy sugar. However, sugar was an enormous business. Colonial Americans (and all of Europe) had enormous sweet tooths (teeth?). IIRC, sugar production was the biggest industry in the Americas. Not North America, particularly, but the Caribbean and Brazil. Not so fun fact: most of the slaves brought from Africa were sent to sugar plantations, where they died in droves. It was horrible.
@@PeteSmoot There's an Errol Flynn film, Captain Blood, about the British Battle of Sedgemoore, and Dr. Peter Blood being arrested for helping an injured "rebel." He was facing Judge Jeffreys' Bloody Assizes: torture and death. In the film, King James II is told this is a waste of valuable men who could instead be sold as slaves in the sugar plantations. The film showed that, as you mention, the work conditions were horrible.
@@merryrose6788 Ooh, I love Errol Flynn but haven't watched his movies in decades. I saw Captain Blood when i was in high school. I need to rewatch it. IIRC it has an epic scene where Blood says (and I'm paraphrasing) "they made me an outlaw so f*** it, I'm going full pirate!"?
What a lot of Europeans forget is that the United States is a young country and a very big country. In Germany, during the American Revoultion, you could probably ride your horse out of your village and into another in an hour of so. In America, if you leave your home, it could days, weeks, even months before you reach another settlement. So the right to bear arms was needed so people could protect themselves, be it from wild animals, criminals, and even the their own government.
Back then the government didn't have weapons too superior to what the citizens had. Now? A full auto assault rifle is pretty much useless. Except for murdering school children.
The right to bear arms is ALWAYS needed. What will you do if your government one day turns tyrannical and you are fighting them with knives and sticks? What do you do if your government gets you into a war and you are invaded with nothing to defend yourself? Giving up your guns leaves your freedom in the hands of politicians.
Not only sharp but readily available near port city’s. They used to pack them into the soil to help slow down erosion and stabilize the ground from moving.
@@joshualux8309I'm pretty sure oyster shells can also easily cause infections, especially when they didn't have antiseptics or antibiotics back in the day... it would basically be like throwing used needles you found in a New York alley
There are a LOT of stories buried in the American Revolution. I’ve lived and worked in the Boston area and, for the last 16 years, I’ve commuted to work literally next door to the National Park site near where the Battle of Lexington was fought - where re-enactments are done every year. Yes, Jefferson had slaves, but Oversimplified didn’t have time to point out that Jefferson also wanted to put an anti-slavery clause in the Declaration of Independence. He was forced to remove it because the southern colonies wouldn’t sign on with that clause still in it. One reason that they made note of Benedict Arnold is because of what happened in their “Part 2” - after being passed over for promotions and recognition for his efforts, he decided to betray the Continental Army by trying to give the plans of the military installation at West Point to the British so they could best attack and capture it. In this country, even now over 200 years later, you could literally hear people call someone a “Benedict Arnold” instead of using the actual word “traitor”. Washington was about to be run out of the Army for all of his defeats. There was a joke going around that, when the Crown’s forces would finally capture everyone, they would hang everyone ‘famous’ that they knew - but Washington would escape because the British military had only ever seen the back of his head. The Battle of Trenton would change all that. That’ll be in Part 2 as well. There are a lot of things that can be categorized in the “if that didn’t happen, the United States lose” column. If they didn’t get the artillery to Dorchester Height in time.. If the fog didn’t roll in at Brooklyn Heights. If the Hessian mercenaries didn’t get drunk in Trenton on Christmas. If the French weren’t supplying the overwhelming share of gunpowder and other arms to the Continental Army. If Franklin hadn’t brokered a peace deal. If the French ships didn’t *finally* show up when they did…. And there are a lot more of those… And there IS one fact that’s not too well known about the objections to all the taxes. The group we call “the Founding Fathers” are often referred to as ‘businessmen’. At times, it would be more accurate to call them “smugglers”. The taxes were levied on goods that were having their prices set artificially low and the smugglers basically couldn’t compete. That part doesn’t get a lot of recognition because it doesn’t fit the narrative of people sacrificing their livelihoods for the ideal of freedom and independence. But it WAS a contributing factor.
“Washington would escape because the British had only seen the back of his head.” I actually LOL’d. I love that our sense of humor hasn’t changed from the very beginning of the country.
In the mini-series Sons of Liberty, there are scenes with John Hancock trying to keep up his deal with Governor Hutchinson, that the Governor would "look the other way" at Hancock's non-taxed merchandise, as long as there was payment to the Governor.
Things were different back then. It was normal to own slaves, it was what you did if you had any kind of wealth back then. I cant stand when people retroactively apply modern morality. As if people in 200 years wont look at all the pollution and waste the average person emits daily in the same way we view slaveowning 200 years ago. Its all atrocious, but people live according to the times and current moral code.
Something that doesn't get mentioned in this video is that, in the wake of the Boston Massacre, the British soldiers were put on trial in Boston for murder. They were defended by that young lawyer by the name of John Adams, who did so not because he believed that the soldiers behaved correctly (he absolutely did not), but because he believed it was not sufficient for the government to state that an unlawful act had taken place, but that the government further had to prove that the act, in addition to being unlawful, was also unjustified. His defense was successful, and the soldiers were acquitted in light of the circumstances they were under, as the jury felt that in the same circumstances, they would likely have behaved the same way. John Adams would go on to assist Thomas Jefferson with the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which he was also one of the first to sign, served an important role in organization during the War for Independence, was instrumental in the creation of the Constitution, and would serve as the second President of the United States.
17:34 A musket ball is a type of bullet for the firearms of the time. The tip of a modern 'bullet' is actually _the_ bullet, and the rest is a cartridge containing the gunpowder, plus the primer charge which is struck by the firing pin to ignite the powder. Colonial muskets did not use such convenient rounds (they hadn't been invented yet), and were loaded from the front end, the muzzle. Preparing a muzzle-loader for firing involved pouring in gunpowder, some form of wadding such as a bit of paper to help contain it for firing, and the musket ball, then tamping it all in place using the ramrod, a special long, thin tool that was mounted on the underneath side of the barrel when not in use. The gunpowder would have been set off by a bit of flint that was part of the cocked hammer, which when the trigger was pulled struck a piece of steel and produced a spark (similar to modern cigarette lighters), igniting the powder and propelling the ball. Later innovations were developed where the bore of the barrel was given rifling grooves that would impart a spin to the bullet, making it more accurate, and these grooves are where we get the term 'rifle'. But colonial muskets would have been smooth-bore, and shot these round balls less accurately, at shorter distances, with lower muzzle velocity than more modern weapons. Counter-intuitively, these low-velocity balls actually did more damage than smaller, faster modern bullets. If struck by a modern bullet in the arm, one might expect a relatively small wound. The larger, slower musket balls would obliterate the arm, the bone, and would usually require amputation due to the extensive damage. Anyway, besides the high-level gun lore, the insult to the British of melting down a statue of their king to make ammunition against his army shows us somewhat of the spirit of these early patriots.
Knox being able to transport heavy artillery cross country, with essentially no roads, won the siege of Boston. Normally, the cannon would have been sent by boat down the Hudson, then by ship to Boston, but the British controlled all the water routes.
As an American I am happy to see that you are interested in our history. Truth be told we had help from a very famous German general trained by Frederick the great to win the war of independence against the British. His name was baron von Steuben I believe. He was such a good general with good tactics that America adopted his tactics all the way to 1812 and possibly after as he was very successful in battle. He is also a grandfather in the German community in America from my understanding.
Hey, I'm personally from the 50 states myself, its nice to see others learn about our history over in the states, Love your videos keep up the good work!
8:00 - Yes that is largely why. Remember, during the American Revolution the British regulars began by confiscating firearms. Not only were those arms the British were trying to confiscate the arms that were ultimately used by the rebelling forces during the war, but keep in mind that this area was not nearly as developed as it was today and those arms that were confiscated were often needed for hunting and defense from wild animals, or if you were even farther out you may need it to protect yourselves from bandits, hostile native americans, or colonists from other nations. To add onto this, the framers of the US constitution did not believe in standing armies and believed that the national defense should largely be formed of independent militia that were not run by the government. The militia would need to provide their own weapons and equipment so you naturally need to ensure they can poses said arms. Also if you look at early laws for the defense of the country you'll see that the militia is considered to be organized regular groups, and the unorganized militia which is every adult male up to the age of 65. If there was an emergency then the idea was you would recruit from the militia and form army then disband it when the war was over.
As to your question about the colonies only being on the Atlantic coast (~9:21), the areas to the south and west did not have organized colonial governments, though the land was claimed by Britain. The colonies of the coastal areas had governments, and sufficiently large populations to build serious resentment of British rule. Samuel Adams was a brewer in addition to his political activities. His name is now used by a major brewery in Boston, MA.
Those western areas had hardly any people of British or any other European descent living in them. The Appalachian Mountains run from Maine to northern Georgia and were a significant physical barrier to travel and settlement, though they didn't stop it entirely. Also, not surprisingly, the Native Americans who lived there didn't want more Europeans moving in. They had support from the French, who claimed the area in theory but didn't have many settlements there, and didn't want the British expanding into it. Then, because the Britsh government didn't want to provoke conflicts with them, it forbid any of its colonists to settle there. So those western areas were claimed by Britain but had no British population to speak of.
@mccaine1 Plus the British did not want the colonists moving west. They were in the process of creating a Native American state west of the Appalachians.
@dennisweidner288 0 seconds ago @mccaine1 Plus the British did not want the colonists moving west. They were in the process of creating a Native American state west of the Appalachians.
16:34 Washington wasn't a great tactician; he lost far more battles than he won. But what he was, was a fantastic leader. He knew how to rally and motivate his men, and he was also pretty good at listening to advice from others, as he understood his own weaknesses fairly well.
9:05, they weren't settled yet. Keep in mind there's a giant mountain range to the west of the colonies called the Appalachian mountains that kind of restricts short-term expansion.
Yup. Second ammendment and the Militia acts were written just after that war. The Militia acts were later repealed, but they set the precedent. Now apply that to modern day tech where airborne troops exist....
The National Guards serve in every state and is used to bridge the American militia tradition and a standing army. The National Guards are in most (or all) states which fulfills 1) a regulated “militia” in each state and 2) can be federalized in times of crisis by the President (or is it the Executive Branch? I know they have been federalized in WWI & WWII).
Not merely a descendant of. He was simultaneously King of Great Britain and Elector of Hannover, the two realms being governed separately but with the same monarch. It was, naturally, easy to rent German troops from Hannover.
First of the Hanover kings to be born in Britain. On the whole, not a bad king but he shoulda looked to what happened to Charles I and what happens when you respond to valid criticism with total intransigence.
Milita were part time civilian soldiers in essence required to have a gun that defended their homes and towns. They only occasionally trained. This idea goes back to Jamestown and Pilgrim settlements when there was no such thing as any English Army units in America. Americans defended themselves.
Yes, it was also an English tradition in the Medieval times, so it would make sense that the militia tradition would play a role in early settlement and American history because the colonists couldn't rely on England because of a huge ocean barrier.
That's wonderful. Thanks for the feedback. My favorite part was the background of how the original documents were preserved and translated despite high risk of destruction.
The 2nd part is the best part. You'll even get some German involvement. One was very important but only gets a brief mention. Maybe do a little digging into Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben.
8:55 only the colonies on the coast were populated. The Appalachian mountain range made it very difficult to traverse to those areas, so they were very sparsely, if at all populated. The main population centers were near or on the coast.
The real problem of "Rebels" vs the British Army was that the Minutemen's firearms were simple Fowling Pieces, trade muskets, and rifles. None of which would take a bayonet. The British combat strategy at this time was to march up in range of your musket actually hitting something, firing, and then an attack with bayonets. Not too many farmers will stand there trying to re-load their weapons while a line of gleaming bayonets is quickly approaching. No wonder they learned to hide behind trees and sniping.
The British also employed German mercenaries. When the British lost, they left many of the Hessian troops behind rather than pay for them to be returned to Europe.
The story of the Headless Horseman grew from a true story of a Hessian soldier who lost his head from a canon ball. There are stories that actually, the Van Tassel family grew fond of a particular Hessian, who might have saved one of their children who was lost. The story is that when the Hessian was killed by the canon ball, the Van Tassel family had the Hessian buried in the Old Dutch Burying Ground, in an unmarked grave (via Wikipedia).
I am descended from 2 Revolutionary War soldiers. Lieutenant Daniel Kirtland, called with the first calling of the troops at Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He was among the Colonial Forces who chased the British back to Boston after the Battles of Lexington & Concord. He then participated in the Siege of Boston. He served in Captain John Ely's Company. John Haroon (can't remember if that is the correct first name) from Vermont who marched to Boston meeting other forces there also participating in the Siege of Boston. When you delve into the service of the Revolutionary War soldiers, you discover they only served a few weeks or months at a time, and changed companies every time they reenlisted. Haroon was I think in 5 different companies the 5 times he enlisted for a few weeks or months. Far different from today or even in the Civil War.
5:30 So, a bit of helpful context here: when the British established their North American colonies, there were a few challenges to overcome. For one, the north Atlantic crossing was, and remains to this day, one of the deadliest stretches of ocean in the world. The colonies also didn't provide much in the way of economic value. Most of the interest was based on speculative future value. So the British established the colonies under a system of "salutory neglect," V meant that the colonies would receive virtually no support from Britain and would not be represented in parliament, but would also be exempt from most laws, taxes, and obligations levied upon other British citizens. This attracted a uniquely independent-minded colonist to North America. The kind of person who was willing to forego the comforts and security of civilization to be free of its obligations. So when Britain started enforcing laws and levying taxes, the colonists were kind of like, "woah, hold up, this isn't what we agreed to."
Oyster shells are very sharp. It's quite easy to lacerate yourself on them by accident just by handling them. I would not want to have a barrage of them thrown at me by an angry mob. (They also probably stank of rotting seafood by the time they were easily available to pick up and throw at soldiers!) As for gun ownership back in colonial times, bear in mind that even by the 18th century, western Europe had already eliminated many of its large predators, or pushed them to the furthest reaches of settled land. Even leaving aside encounters with the native Americans, the colonies still had wolves, bears, and mountain lions to worry about. Large predators were far more numerous in close proximity to human settlement than they were in most of 18th century western Europe.
Yes the fog. In many wars you can sometimes point to one tiny detail that if were different it could have changed the entire outcome of the war. Such as a storm, blizzard, or even a spy getting caught. Sometimes the most insignificant thing, getting stung by a bee, stopping to rest, can cause the most dramatic shift in an outcome. The fog is considered one of these in American history.
Hello, I'm glad you are interested in American history. I have a German great-grandmother who loved America and taught her 15 children to love America. Germans make great Americans. 👍
My German ancestors came to America in 1748 and settled in the wilderness of central Pennsylvania. The first son, born in 1752, was named Adam. He joined a regional militia for 90 days, which joined the American Army to cross the Delaware River with Gen. Washington on Christmas morning in 1776.
The 2nd Amendment part about “the regulated militia” was due to the success of the Revolutionary War. Before that, the early (English) settlers had set up local militias similar to what they had in England, partially due to the British Civil War and other reasons-but the colonists couldn't wholly rely on British support because they were across the ocean.
@11:51 the green flag was Ethan Allen's. The Green Mountain boys wore green tunics to better blend with the vegetation. The revolutionaries fought using "guerilla warfare tactics" Hiding in the bushes and trees. And flanking the British , who were marching out in the open. This is how the colonists had success against the British.
I had family on the side of the colonists, in the British regulars, AND some who were among the Hessians the British pressed into service. Kind of funny to think about looking back.
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on the committee to write a declaration of principles. Franklin and Adams quickly assigned Jefferson to be the writer. Jefferson hesitated but agreed to the task because Franklin and Adams were on many committees and Jefferson wasn't. Jefferson then wrote the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable..." Franklin interrupted. "Sacred and undeniable? SMACKS of the Pulpit! Smacks of the pulpit!" Jefferson said that he chose every word with precision and Franklin said: "These truths are self evident are they not? Fine. Self evident it is." So all humans have these words to be their own: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.--That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Everyone believes that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but he had help from a church mouse who lived with Ben Franklin. The truth was exposed in the film " Ben an Me". The mouse also invented and discovered all the things Ben Franklin was given credit for.
You should really check out Fat Electrician's video called, "Angry Old Veteran vs. 700 Redcoats - Samuel Whittemore". It goes along with what is shown in this video at 11:07 when the British Army is retreating from Concord and fleeing back to Boston. Samuel Whittemore was an angry old man that attacked the British army by himself. Whittemore was fearless and tough as nails.
@@claypigeon7063 If you watch Fat Electrician's video, he mentions what a huge family that Samuel Whittemore produced. He had a lot of children, and his children apparently also had lots of children. Who knows, you might be related to the guy, which would be pretty awesome.
Many of the further westward lands were owned by the British but unsettled or sparsely populated, whereas the coast was crowded, had direct trade with England, and so were richer. They had the money to raise militias, and so that's where most of the fighting happened. America at first didn't have an army at all, but militias, which were volunteer groups made up of farmers who came together, got a little bit of training by someone who (hopefully) had served in the military. They had to bring their own gun, but many in the cities did not own one and therefore could not fight unless they could afford to buy one. At least, not until the Continental Army was formed, and anyone without their own gun would be supplied with one. This is why the "Right to Bear Arms" became so important. It was originally about a civilian's duty to remain vigilant and be ready to take up arms once again, in case our new government turned out to be WORSE than the one we left. (Considering many people assumed Washington would be President-for-Life, this was a legit worry. Washington himself chose to only serve for 8 years, and in the 20th century this became law.) Of course, in modern times with drones and most of America's military effectiveness being thanks to aircraft, owning an automatic rifle is a slight inconvenience to the insanely massive and powerful American Armed Forces. 9:26 - Samuel Adams is a popular brand of beer in America. He ran a brewery, and so he used his beer hall for meetings and his funds from beer sales during the early days of the war. 17:35 - "Musket ball" in German is "Musketenkugel." If you still aren't sure since this is 1700s tech and Europeans aren't as gun-nut as Americans, muskets were the most common type of rifle in the world at that time, using black powder and musket balls. Have you ever considered trying music reactions, maybe on Patreon since RUclips doesn't always like those? Because "Hamilton" is a musical about the lead-up to the American Revolution, the struggles of the war and how it affected average men, and the first few years of trying to set up a new country, as told with a focus on Alexander Hamilton, who rose from an orphaned immigrant and son of a prostitute to Washington's Right-Hand Man. If not, at least watching the musical on your own. It's a fun dive into accurate history put to music. Although, the singing is SO FAST even I can't understand some of it and have to look at subtitles.
There was a lot of British territory west and north of the original 13 colonies that first made up the United States. The first 13 colonies or states were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. Territory west of that was largely unsettled and was dangerous to travel into because the natives would often fight any of the British or colonists who traveled west. Britain pretty much forbid the colonists from traveling into the western territories for fear that they would be killed by the natives. I believe they also made a treaty with the natives promising that no one would settle west of the 13 colonies. The British did also have some settlements in Canada, but they were never considered to be a part of the US or the 13 colonies. The founding fathers did look to George Washington to lead the rebellion because he had military experience. There was some speculation that he would be up to the task because he was still somewhat inexperienced compared to other British or former British Generals, but he is ultimately who they went with and it paid off in the end. Samuel Adams was one of the founding fathers, but in more recent history, his name has become an American beer brand. The right to bare arms was ultimately put into the bill of rights, so the country could better defend itself. It is what helped win the Revolutionary War against the British. The United States also did not have a standing army until.... after World War II? I could be wrong about that, but I don't think we had a dedicated budget and reserves of trained soldiers until WWII and after. Prior to that, the country had to rely on trained militias that the government could call on to fight wars if we were ever attacked. That meant that civilians needed to be able to supply their own weapons.
A musket ball is the ammunition used for the preferred personal weapon of the time: the musket (basically a primitive rifle^). The colonists turned a statue of the King of England into "bullets" to shoot his soldiers with. The first of the five men shot by the British at the Boston Massacre was a Black man named Crispus Attucks. And yes, the 2nd Amendment was ratified (in part) as a "check" against an overreaching and tyrannical government (thus the phrase "2nd Amendment solutions"). Part of the reason why the colonists were able to defeat a well trained, professional army is because, although they were unfamiliar with military drill and tactics and lacked a formal chain of command, they were dedicated, knew the terrain, had the initiative and, crucially, they were armed. This has had a profound impact on America's relationship to guns. ^The musket is so simple and so iconic (and also so inaccurate, slow to fire, noisy and awkward to use) that modern ones aren't even regulated by our federal government as guns provided they're modeled exactly after designs created prior to about 1898. They can be shipped to a person's doorstep and purchased by people normally prohibited from owning guns (which, again, they're not legally). Different states might have stricter rules, of course.
I'm from Boston and it was so cool to see you do a reaction on the Revolution! You must come visit sometime, you would be so welcome here and it's an easy flight from Germany! We have amazing culture, history, global food, sports, nature, and without the HUGE city feel of NYC (though it's definitely worth visiting there too). Love your channel, keep the videos coming!
The history is great with the comedic effect..but the detail is facinating to me. As an old vet, I'm interested in HOW not just who and when. Just me I guess.
THAT FOG WAS A MIRACLE!!!! it was one of the British soldiers who obviously got nervous or anxious that fired first because it wasn’t any of the colonists. Leave it to a nervous British soldier .😂 That Fog in New York was a miracle, and for the longest time, and even today, some people who are Christians believe in divine intervention, and since there has never been any type of fog on that island at all, but just that once, at least, for the first couple hundred years that people inhabited this land, It was either a coincidence or divine intervention, because it saved those American troops and General Washington news, and said himself they couldn’t afford to lose anymore!! He made sure that they had fires going through the night so the British would think they were camping and sleeping because he knew that the British would come after them first thing in the morning after daylight and George Washington major every one of his troops had gotten across the river in a boat before he left!! That’s true leader ship, because any general colonel or commander that leads from the front and is the first one to hit the ground in the last one to leave is the type of leader that every unit needs!!! If it were not for that fog, all of those American militia would’ve been killed for sure!! The minute men could fight, but they weren’t as well trained as the British military. The people in the USA are in the Americas. We’re always crazy having boxing and wrestling contest and these guys and families were in good shape because most of them were farmers and had hard jobs.. of course, they were going to be tough and strong compared to the spoiled British military. The British military had better weapons, but hand-to-hand combat. The Americans had them beaten.. The British were just trying to get the colony’s Own Arsenal weapons to try to disarm us. NOO!!!! not our weapons you don’t ! Here in the USA, we have animals that eat you and plus there were the Indians and guns were a means of hunting and protecting ourselves, and they still are because criminals running wild all over America because progressive district, attorneys and mirrors don’t ever charge these people with hideous crimes they commit, so we do need to defend ourselves, and even more now because we have more criminals and gangs from all over the world plus terrorists. Depending on where somebody attacks depends on what kind of fight that they’re gonna get because these people coming into the country pretty much know where they can get by with stuff and where they can’t. Republican states or the state that aren’t pure centralized government control believing we have too much big fat bureaucracy to pay for but doesn’t want at least 150 or so administrative agencies wants to let business business and not strangle everything by over controlling it like the Democrats socialist do, and this infrastructure bill that was passed a couple years ago- nothing has been done because the regulations are so horrific that they can’t do anything which is why I’m praying Trump gets reelected!!! Our weapons now are for self protection, and if anybody gets into our country, you damned right we’re going to protect our land. Nobody uses weapons against our government and that’s bullshit except that some hoodlums do you shoot cops sometime and Truthfully, anybody that kills a government employee that works for the police with your local state or federal should get life in prison or the death penalty, because either which way they cost about the same amount of money. I’m more for life in prison, but it just depends on how full it gets in there.
Your words are beautiful 😍 but one thing you left out. So many boats showed up, that it caused a commotion, General George Washington went to see and some body suggested to Washington with all those boats we can walk across. And three pontoon bridges were used. It wasn't George Washington crossing in a boat on a horse.
I am absolutely enjoying seeing my own country's history through your eyes. I'm a counter crusade history major so American history was a fleeting thing I had to have to get my degree.
Not many know this, but Jefferson got his 100 slaves when he married Martha Skelton as a dowry. John Wayles was Sally Hemming's and Martha's father. So Sally naturally took care of the house for Martha, her half sister. When Martha died, Thomas Jefferson and Sally grieved together for their loss. Thomas invited, his slave, Sally, to Paris, where she was free, to care for his diplomatic home, where he started the French Revolution, and they fell in love, but couldn't be married because of mixed race.
Thomas Jefferson most definitely did NOT start the French Revolution. Hold onto something solid so you don't fall down in shock when you read this ... The French Revolution was started by the French.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q yeah good point... but greg is talking about how the american revolution had a HUGE direct impact/inspiration for the french revolution...so yeah--tom jeff
He “fell in love” with Sally Hemings? Or, he used his power as a slave owner to use his wife’s half-sister, whom neither he nor his wife freed, as his concubine? It’s not necessary to make up a glowing version of his life to recognize his other achievements.
@@gregchambers6100 People are influenced by their influences. Does that make the influences responsible for what those people did? You might as well say the American Revolution was started by the ancient Greek political philosophers and Guy Fawkes.
Fun fact he left out: after the Boston Massacre, John Adams defended the 7 British soldiers in court and won. They were found not guilty of murder. Samuel Adams lead a march against them the next day. Also yes, Sam Adams is a lager beer we have here in the US lol
Re: Washington Short answer: Yes. Long answer: I'm not a Washington specialist, but from what I recall in college people noticed that Washington always behaved as if he would be a legendary and important man. He was very formal and reserved. But he also really did try to do what was best for people. One of the greatest things he ever did for us was step down after serving for two terms as president. He didn't get voted out. he could have kept going. He could have tried to begin a dynasty. And he didn't. He did believe in the who project of democracy and so held himself to very high standards. But yeah he seemed to think he would live a life that would leave a mark on history and so tried to live a life that would be remembered and be an example to everyone. Which often came off as stuck up.
Great information! It’s also interesting (and, perhaps, important to note that Washington was not a particularly good soldier, general, leader….but what he WAS was ambitious!
It would have been somewhat difficult for Washington to start a dynasty, as he didn't have any biological children. He had stepchildren but there's next to no chance that anybody outside of Virginia would have accepted any of them as a new king.
Washington could have become king and chose not to become king. This was unprecedented. The president was given a lot of power because of the presumption that GW would be the president and was trustworthy. Later, critical changes became possible in the US because of the importance of the president, but it's also why we tend to have 2 big and dominant parties, both trying to dominate our politics.
During the Sugar tax, there was still a large contingency of British soldiers in America. They would inspect incoming ships as they landed in the ports and check to see where their cargo came from. If it wasn't GB, back you go.
Once you do the revolution and the war of 1812, you really should 'backktrack' a bit and do The Fat Electrician's video on the Barbary Pirates and formation of the USA Navy. Oh and TFE's "Get off my lawn!" too... all that time period. It looks so different because that was only the 1st 13 states/colonies...37 states to go... (and, most of the biggest ones). There IS NO US yet... there are the British Colonies in the Americas. BUT the other part of your Q. why were the others not pissed? They had not been under British 'rule' as long... (*and, maybe the French/Spanish were worse?) Dunno, but makes sense. Musket ball was the "bullet" of that time. Great reaction.
"Why weren't these western parts of British America joining the 13 colonies?" North of the colonies was Maine, which was part of Massachusetts at the time. To the north of those big lakes in the middle of all that land was Quebec, a bunch of Frenchmen that had no stake in this. To the south of that was Louisiana Territory, mostly a bunch of Native Americans and a few Frenchmen that also had no stake in this. On the southern coast was the territories of West and East Florida, until recently was Spanish territory but was now being very lightly settled by recent English immigrants still loyal to the crown. The American colonies now in rebellion had a history of self rule ranging between half a century and a few centuries, and as such were largely culturally distinct from both England and each other by this point. Reasons for the founding of these colonies varied, but most of them originated with some kind of political or religious disagreement with the English Anglican establishment. Between Louisiana and the colonies in rebellion was the Native Reserve, which was created as a thank you to the Native tribes for backing the British during the 7 Years War. This one was one of the points of contention between the British and the Americans, as the Americans wanted to expand out there but not being allowed to by the British. By the time of the Revolution, a bunch of people primarily descended from the Scots would start settling there illegally and take up the fight too, though being the outskirts of the empire meant that little battles of importance were fought here. Tl;dr, there's a gulf of a cultural and political difference between the 13 colonies and the other British holdings in America at the time.
Great Britain even had a tax for every "glass" window you had in your home. I learned this from a tour of the Lexington and Concord Battle grounds in Lexington Massachusetts
Sam Adams was a second cousin of John Adams. He was also one of the Founding Fathers and a Continental Congress member. After the war he served in the Massachusetts senate then eventually elected as governor. By trade, he was made a partner in the family business by his father, running a malt house. They produced malt for brewing beer.
One thing I was taught in school but never seen mentioned here, is how Americans had the advantage of knowing the land. I mean, imagine you're a soldier in the UK, who has then been sent to an actual desert, or desolate mountains. These are the places we played in as kids. We knew the landscape, we knew how to utilize it, and that's how farmers and shop clerks took down an army
You are correct that royals married each other for political alliances and it lead to massive inbreeding. Royals suffered from genetic maladies, deformities, and mental illnesses. For ex. King George III was mad (I don't know specifically what plagued him), Prince Alexander of Russia (Tsar Nicholas II’s son & Victoria’s descendant) suffered from hemophilia, and King Charles V of Spain had a remarkably distinct chin (look it up, it is strange to look at), etc.
7:35: Its not that oyster-shells are harder than rocks, but rather that they're basically a tiny dull ceramic Ax-head that shatter into razor fragments when thrown.
Yes the right to bear arms comes from this. American milita already were required to own a gun. They fought hand in hand with the British to kick the French out.
5:59 - While I think you have a point, I had a teacher that told us that the reason why those old portraits look the same or like men is because the painters usually used their own face as a reference.
It's extremely unlikely that the Colonies would have been able to defeat the British without help from France, Spain and Holland. France is our oldest ally.
France didn't actually join until it was a near certainty that American would win. The Americans were on their own for a long time, and France was seeing which way the wind would blow.
The colonies were on their way to defeating the British. As Thomas Paine noted in Common Sense, Britain is a small island, and America is a huge continent. Also, an ocean between them. The small island can't control the huge continent. Despite the battles lost, the colonists would have outlasted the Brits' desire to send troops and spend money on a war on its colonists.
The areas without faces at 9:05 are still almost entirely inhabited by Natives, with some scattered British and old French forts. There were very few colonists inhabiting those areas and they were relatively ungoverned despite being British claimed land. Samuel Adams is also an American beer named after the man mentioned as a Founding Father.
Defense against a tyrannical government but while politically incorrect it was true, most of the Native American tribes had a raiding culture with varying degrees of violence
doesn't matter that it was politically correct.. its just true. You could just omit that part about politically correct. Why? Because being politically correct is pointless, all it means is that one is trying to keel over like a dog submitting to our modern-day tyrants.
Yes the Native Tribes gave as good as they got until they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers of settlers and the force of the federal government. The romantic idea of the ‘noble savage’ is a myth. That’s not to say they weren’t shafted by broken promises and treaties. They were. But it’s naive to think they lived in harmony with everyone and everything.
Many of the tribes were British allies. When the Revolution was underway, Indians and British loyalists (called Tories), under the command of the British Army, waged war against American militia and civilians along the western frontier. The frontier was about 150 miles west of New York City and Philadelphia.
To answer your question at 9:06, because the red outside the Atlantic coast weren't colonies as a political entity. They were simply territories of land, they did not have the same style of government. To understand why the Midwest became states after, look up the Mississippi River Basin.
To answer the question of oyster shells, at the time oysters were a really common food for the lower class, they were like the cheap microwave dinners of the 1700's Boston. You could walk down a street and find piles of discarded shells literally everywhere. In addition to being plentiful ammunition for throwing, chipped or broken shells could be quite sharp. And finally, rotting oysters smell terrible, a final insult to injury when one is getting pelted by them.
Hallo! German-American again to answer your Teutonic questions. 4:17 - Yes they did. At that point in time America was still Colonial and still a subject of the British Crown. The 7-Years War was VASTLY different in the US, to the point where Americans know it as "The French and Indian War". As part of the American theater of the War the French allied with Native American tribes to fight British and Colonial troops. Among these Colonial forces was George Washington, who would later become famous for being an American Badass. Also Britain forced America to buy things because at that time Britain and her companies had a monopoly on much of the shipping and transportation, as the world's largest navy. As America was still a subject of Britain they had to follow British laws. This obviously disgruntled many Continentals. 7:09 - During this period of time it was almost a certainty to drink water. This is why tea and beer were so popular: the process of making both largely kills the bacteria in the water. By taxing tea the British were essentially taxing water, and if you couldn't afford it too bad. To Americans this came across as "pay us or die". 7:48 - This is an example of why we have the 2nd Amendment, but there are innumerable others. The thought process behind it was that an armed populous would be difficult to rule over in tyranny. You must remember that serfs were not allowed to own guns - for fear they would overthrow their masters. This is the logic behind why the founding fathers wrote this into our Constitution. 8:55 - this is Oversimplified, the American Revolutionary War was a long and bloody affair. Much happened in other areas, but this is where the Revolution Proper kicked off. The areas you point to were, at that time, relatively remote and unpopulated by Europeans. 9:31 - Sam Adams is a popular brand of beer in the US, named after the American Patriot Samuel Adams. It was originally invented and brewed in Boston, MA. 10:51 - Yes at this point in time this was not an army, this was farmers with muskets. Later in the war the Patriots were turned into a more organized and efficient army by Baron von Steuben, but at this point in the war these are farmers and Patriots with guns. 11:30 - Basically yes but the Patriot forces likely would have lost without French aide/intervention and Spain's declaration of war on England. You must remember that the French were instrumental in securing our victory at Yorktown. 13:06 - Yes but Oversimplified is correct, he did show up in a uniform. He also had bright orange hair, a serious temper problem, and was a giant for his time (over 6 feet in height). He was a somewhat modest man, however, and him retiring after 2 terms is what set the precedent of President not seeking a third term. At this point in history that was very radical: Kings and Queens ruled nations until they died, and then their children ruled them. America was unique in allowing its population to choose who their representative was. So much so that the title "President" was specifically chosen as it (had) little prestige, similar in meaning to being President of a social club. 13:45 - This was an extremely important battle during the Revolutionary War. Think of this as your Franco-Prussian War, but make it last for 18 years instead (yes the Revolutionary War lasted for 8 years but it was also a social movement - remember "Join Or Die"?), also make it so the French were an existential threat to your life and existence. 17:36 - A musket ball is a round piece of shot, generally lead, used as the projective for a musket. A musket is a smooth-barrel long gun. The difference between a musket and a rifle is that a rifle is "rifled", meaning that there is a twist down the barrel. This allows the projectile (bullet) to gain significant momentum to to tumbling down the barrel as well as increases accuracy and range. Rifles did not yet exist during the 1770s and 1780s, and as such people used muskets instead. A musket would have black powder poured down the barrel, then the musket ball placed into it and tamped down with a rod. The musket would then be loaded and read to be fired. Except a musket ball was significantly larger than modern bullets: as such a musket ball could easily blow a limb off. 18:41 - Possibly. It is likely some Patriot forces would have escaped but I would imagine the death toll would be significantly higher. If Washington was killed it would have struck a blow to the cause but when something grows that big as a movement it generally cannot be stopped. Washington was, however, known to use weather and fog to his advantage - as seen in his crossing of the Delaware River. You are correct in stating all these people were very brave, though. The saying among the Founders was "we hang together or we hang separate". I'd like to see you do a video on the American Civil War as well as America's response to both WW1 and WW2. It would be extremely interesting to see that from a German's perspective.
The Dutch were the ones who actually settled New York. New York City was originally the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!
Albany NY is the oldest charted city in the US with the original Dutch charter from 1686 still in affect.
And the colony was New Netherlands. Really should have stayed different names so people wouldn't confuse the state and city.
In Washington Irving's History of New Amsterdam he says there were no problems for 150 years... then they formed a government and the troubles started.
Much of New Jersey was also colonized by the Dutch. Van Syckle's tavern is right down the road from me and was built a few decades before the Revolution. I'd bet good money that the Van Syckle family has been here since about 1600. Dutch harvesting of oysters around Jersey City absolutely destroyed the ecosystem as they were unwilling to abide by the limits that the Lenape had used for centuries in regard to annual harvesting.
Musket ball = bullet. The King George statue was literally used against him.
Yup. The old muzzle loaded muskets fired a spherical round ball. Later, rifles fired the oval shaped bullets we know today.
Actually, the King George statue was melted down for cannonballs, not musket balls.
Useless trivia…it’s why individual bullets are still called rounds.
The physical signs of this act of rebellion are still visible today at New York's Bowling Green Park: the fence posts around the statue were topped with finials prior to July 9, 1776, the day the statue was torn down. The fence is still there. So are the marks on the tops of the posts where the finials were sawn off and melted into musket balls, along with King George's statue.
@@seancatherall31I recently saw a TikTok explaining this and it has got to be one of the coolest things I’ve learned in while 🙌🏼
To answer a few of your questions, The part in the south that is now Florida, at the time of the Revolution was Spanish owned. The northern part, now the state of Maine, was a part of Massachusetts until 1820, when it became the state of Maine.
Because of the tax on tea, Americans started drinking coffee, which is why more people here drink coffee than hot tea.
New York was first settled by the Dutch and Delaware was first settled by the swedes.
Those colonists weren't completely untrained. Every colony had militias. They were actually created to fight Native Americans. In some cities, towns, and villages it was required for every adult male to own a gun. They had very little training, essentially, show up with your gun, fire, and run or reload.
Since you are German, let me tell you about the most important German that was on our side. His name was Baron Von Steuben. He claimed to be a Baron, but history has since found that he wasn't. He was sent by Benjamin Franklin to assist Washington in training our army. He brought his French interpreter with him. He was a drill instructor. He would bark out orders or cuss men out in German. His interpreter would say it, cuss words and all, in French. Then the Marquis de Lafayette, who was French and Washington's aide, would repeat it in English, cuss words and all. Von Steuben wrote a drill manual for the USA that is still used today, with stuff added to modernize it
We get to see the stick figure version of him in part II. (Oh no! Spoilers!)
Slight errata regarding Florida; at the time or the revolution it was British controlled and had been since the seven years war (aka French and Indian war). Britain ceded it back to Spain in the peace treaty following the revolutionary war. It was later acquired by the United States from Spain in 1819.
They didn't need formal training, they were all hunters and were excellent shots.
The main reason we drink tea is due to the fact that it has more caffeine than tea. The Boston Tea party wasn’t exactly common knowledge to people for most of American history and if it was, I doubt most people would have been influenced by it.
@@Perfectly_Cromulent351 no, it was the price increase on tea that caused people to drink coffee, they knew nothing about caffeine. And if you don't think most people knew about tea boycotts, then why does the Museum of the Revolution, of which I was a volunteer until health prevented it, have newspapers from ALL the colonies telling people to drink coffee?. No one knew what caffeine was yet
An American beer company named themselves after patriot Samuel Adams, thus the future alcoholic beverage line.
That line always makes me laugh!
My wife's BFF is married to a German national, and Sam Adams is his favorite mass-market American beer. He prefers micro-brews, but it he's going to get beer at a supermarket on the way home, it will be Sam Adams.
I think Sam Adams was a brewer at the time. He was also a massive radical and cousin of future president, John Adams.
and Ethan Allen became a traditional American furniture brand.
@@tommc4916 Sam Adams is certainly bigger then a micro brewery, but I would not call them mass-market either.
It is important to remember that at the outbreak of the war they were not fighting for independence. Many of the colonists were 5+ generations in the colonies, but they still considered themselves British. They were fighting to be treated as full English citizens, with a voice in how they were governed. They were willing to lay down their lives for liberty, but were not seeking independence (yet). The taxes were offensive to them not for how high they were (they were not that high), but because English common law guaranteed a person being taxed the right to help decide how they were taxed. But as a colonist they didn't have representation in parliament.
Representation was a difficult matter. With the American population approaching 50% of that of England and growing fast adding the American colonists representatives directly to parliament would be a major shake-up in the balance of power. And to make matters worse, if land ownership was used in any formula for calculating representation the massive amount of land in the American colonies could turn them all into voters. Intelligent people foresaw an England where the population at home would become a minority dominated by British citizens living outside of the homeland. There were attempts at compromise, but they were poorly designed and failed.
Another thing to understand is that each colony was effectively a corporation from the English point of view. They often treated each separately and the colonists themselves had little loyalty collectively. When dealing with the post-7 Years War issues Franklin advocated that the colonies needed to negotiate collectively. Many of the images used during the war were based not on rebellion, but on failed attempts at collective bargaining, like the chopped up snake "Join or Die" isn't about joining the army.
George Washington was an officer in the colonial army, not the redcoats. After the 7 years war (We call it the French and Indian War in the U.S.) Washington wanted a commission in the royal army, but was rejected... again, 2nd class citizen. It is very important to understand that George Washington did not join the continental army to fight for independence. He and most others felt that they were fighting for their rights as English citizens when the conflict started. Kill each other for a few months and the idea of independence became more popular - but it never became extremely popular. Most people just wanted the fighting to stop regardless of outcome.
I do living history presentations and sometimes portray a loyalist. It is surprising to Americans today to learn that the idea of independence wasn't popular at first - they're fooled by the modern media into thinking we hated England. We didn't - we hated parliament - and who doesn't at any point in history?
This was a civil war, with families being very split on the issues. Brothers fought brothers, literally at times.
Excellent analysis. I believe that public opinion in the colonies was split 3 ways--1/3 Patriot, 1/3 Loyalist, 1/3 non-aligned--with each colony providing troops for both sides. We must also remember that there were powerful voices in Parliament who opposed the war and wanted some kind of accommodation, but it was the King's ministers who wanted to prosecute the War. Thus, it was the Ministers (not the King, not England and not even Parliament) who were despised.
@Paulschirf9259
"Intelligent people foresaw an England where the population at home would become aminority dominated by British citizens living outside of the homeland."
I've never seen this mentioned before nor had I ever considered it. It makes a lot of sense. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Very good research and analysis.
My 7th great-grandfather James Gorsline was a Loyalist in upstate New York. After refusing to sign the Oath of Allegiance, he was initially sent to Exeter, NH, along with several other Loyalists, but most of them returned home over the next few months. James continued to talk against the Revolution, and was eventually thrown onto a prison ship near Kingston, NY. He spent three weeks there before emerging and agreeing to sign. He remained in New York even after the war, so he must have made his peace with it.
The irony of Britain not giving voting rights to people who lived on the other side of the world out of fear of being governed by strangers (:
Two fun facts.
1: The reason coffee is so popular in America is because of the British taxing tea. The colonists turned to drinking coffee in protest.
2: Paul Revere never said, "The British are coming." He said, "The regulars are coming" since the colonists were still British subjects.
lol true story
In the tv show Sleepy Hollow, the character Ichabod Crane (in this version a British officer who joins the colonists) has come back to life in the modern world, and is taken to a Revolutionary War museum, where he's listening to a tour guide tell a group of school children that Revere said "The British are coming." Crane impatiently corrects the tour guide, saying, "We were all British then, so saying the British are coming would be most unhelpful." (Not a direct quote).
and yet we still drink more tea than them😥
When I taught fourth grade that sentence about "The British are coming" was in our textbooks, and it annoyed me. Every year when we got to that part I would stop and ask my 9-year-old students if something about that statement didn't look right. Sometimes I needed to give a hint by reminding them to look at the dates, but most of the time they'd figure it out and ask, "Wait a minute, weren't we still British at that point?"
And Paul Revere wasn't the only one warning people. There was a lady whose name I can't remember. (Can someone help me out, here?)
Chris, you're partially correct. Fighting for 8 years against the British convinced most people that no government was to be entirely trusted, and the only way to insure freedom was to allow everyone to defend themselves by force of arms. Armed citizens were known as the militia. Hence, the Second Amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
And thus, we have a saying: "When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have freedom." Americans may support our government. But the people in the government are our EMPLOYEES, not our rulers. And one of the purposes of the Second Amendment is to make sure that everyone REMEMBERS that.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to be as well armed as the Government since 1934. The National Firearms act outlawed private ownership of automatic firearms. And has been amended to include: Explosive weapons, and rocket propelled weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, commonly known as the ATF, has been given a lot of power without any input from the people.
@@HemlockRidge That's true. My only comfort is that that's still far better than most countries. You can only do the best you can.
@HemlockRidge and all those laws and bureaus are utterly unconstitutional
@@docsavage8640 I mostly agree. Cafeteria Constitutionals slap on the blinders and run rampant over it. They've been getting away with it for decades.
BRAVO! Well said brother!
🎼 “even Old New York was once New Amsterdam” 🎶
🎵Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.🎶
@@sakisaotome6753Istanbul, not Constantinople, now it's Istanbul not Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works, that's nobody's business but the Turks.
TMBG :)
ISSSSSSSSSTAAAAAAANBULLLLLLLL!
No one’s business but the Yanks …
Yes. The right to bear arms is exactly to defend ourselves from tyranny. Not just self defense and hunting. We are citizens, not subjects.
It literally says we have the right to bear arms in order to form a militia.
exactly. the right to bear arms is not only to defend ourselves, but to prevent tyranny from the government
@@marcbennett9232Hört sich gut an. Ist reiner Quatsch.
@@torstenheling3830 Indeed. We live in a rather different world now than we did during the Enlightenment.
That's nowadays, but originally, it was so settlers could defend them selfs from native Americans. The irony is that it was the British strategy to save money on defense
Quick answer to one of your questions: No England was not protecting us. They were protecting their financial interests. They saw the colonies as theirs.
And they obviously expanded their empire.
Well to be fair, the colonies WERE theirs. And the colonists even considered themselves British until part way through the war. At the start the American colonists just wanted to make the British respect their rights as subjects of the British Crown, which the colonists felt were being ignored. It wasn't until after the fighting had broken out and the British refused peace that independence was seriously considered.
Of course it was theirs, the colonists themselves were British.
"no they weren't protecting *us* , they were protecting their interests". So yea..they were protecting you lol.
@@mitchelltyler5972 If the colonies weren't valuable, they wouldn't protect them. They didn't care about the colonists as people. They cared about them as bags of money. There's a difference.
the father of the US army that trained those men was Fridrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Von Steuben
"Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim" vibes
yep what most Germans and most Americans don't know, is Von Steuben, a German, turned the militia of the USA into a fighting force that could go toe to toe with the British Army. What most American's also don't know is the French provided not just material aid but direct military assistance (like they are doing in Ukraine today) to the colonies. The French Navy helped out tremendously.
@@MrSGL21 his book on how to train troops is still used by the US military today, it's not the ONLY thing, but it's contents are included
@@MrSGL21 ...when they finally got here ;)
Correct, but not yet at this point in history. That all comes next in part 2.
The exact wording of the second amendment; "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." It's a little confusing because of the old-time talk, but it boils down to 'people should be able to defend themselves and their property from those who would want to unlawfully take them/it by force.'
There was also an idea floating around at the time where the national army would be disbanded and the population was expected to defend themselves, and state-sponsored militias would be formed in times of crisis. That whole idea fell apart during the War of 1812 and the national army was reinstated, but the prospect of citizens being able to defend themselves and their property remains a big part of American culture to this day.
Both the Prussian Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (on the side of the colonies), and mercenaries from Hesse-Kassel (on the side of Great Britain) fought in the American Revolution. Von Steuben was instrumental in teaching the Colonial Army how to train soldiers.
I have a possibly wrong memory that some of those soldiers stayed in the US rather than return?
@@tlockerk I'm sure some of them did.
@@tlockerkYou’re correct. I saw different numbers for how many settled in the US and Canada at the war’s end, but it seems to have been a few thousand at least.
Von Steuben is one of my favorite characters of the war. Heck... I even named my cat (Mr. Von Steuben) after him. I call him, Stewie for short 😁
I had German ancestors who owned a farm in Western NJ who served in the NJ forces against Britain during the Revolution (they had also served in the French & Indian War)
A lesser known but critical contribution by German immigrants during the Revolution was the Pennsylvania Long Rifle. German gunsmiths introduced rifling to the settlers in Appalachia. This was a massive improvement over the smooth bore muskets used by the English.
the effective range of a musket was about 50 yards or 45 meters. The rifle could hit a man sized target out to about 250 yards or about 225 meters.
@@MrSGL21 The marksmanship skill of 17 year old kids from Appalachia has been one of our nation’s best secret weapon since the very beginning.
Yeah nothing caused more havoc during revolution then these proto-snipers and the disregard of honorable combat as they took out The British chain of command.
@@Deadxman616 To be fair the brits did the same thing to us. They also had rifles believe it or not.
@eddieromanov German boat men were also important.
How can you force somebody to import something?
By controlling all of the boats. The English had the trading companies. They had a trade plan where they extracted all the raw resources from their colonies, shipped them back to England for processing, and then sent them out again. This made some products ridiculously expensive in the US colonies. And what was more infuriating was that the colonies know that some of these places like the islands with the sugar, we really nearby and we could just go over there and get sugar direct, but England wouldn't allow it. This is why, pre-Revolution, the US had a disproportionate amount of smugglers. Because if Britain wasn't going to allow us to have sugar and other raw goods, we were going to go out and get it ourselves.
I mean, I suppose we could have just not had sugar and other goods. But we really wanted them, and England was being really stupid about making its shipping lines inefficient in an effort to take all of the wealth of the colonies for itself, even from people who wanted to be loyal citizens. We just refused to accept that the cotton needed to be shipped from South Carolina to England to be made into cloth to be sold in New York when New York had plenty of factories of its own for making cloth and it was less risky, and also who wants to pay for shipping twice?
Short answer - guns and the willingness to use them to enforce whatever you want. Crazy concept. The rest is just logistics of where and who to make those facts known and everything falls into place sans occasional rebellion and making examples in response.
Note, this solution only scales by the factor of superior force you have, dwindling to nothing quicky when you no longer have enough superiority to be willing to stress test your margin of error in your assessment and just hope no one stress tests it out for you. Like, a rebellion.
All correct. However, even if you control the boats, you can't _make_ someone buy sugar.
However, sugar was an enormous business. Colonial Americans (and all of Europe) had enormous sweet tooths (teeth?). IIRC, sugar production was the biggest industry in the Americas. Not North America, particularly, but the Caribbean and Brazil.
Not so fun fact: most of the slaves brought from Africa were sent to sugar plantations, where they died in droves. It was horrible.
@@PeteSmoot There's an Errol Flynn film, Captain Blood, about the British Battle of Sedgemoore, and Dr. Peter Blood being arrested for helping an injured "rebel." He was facing Judge Jeffreys' Bloody Assizes: torture and death. In the film, King James II is told this is a waste of valuable men who could instead be sold as slaves in the sugar plantations. The film showed that, as you mention, the work conditions were horrible.
@@merryrose6788 Ooh, I love Errol Flynn but haven't watched his movies in decades. I saw Captain Blood when i was in high school. I need to rewatch it. IIRC it has an epic scene where Blood says (and I'm paraphrasing) "they made me an outlaw so f*** it, I'm going full pirate!"?
What a lot of Europeans forget is that the United States is a young country and a very big country. In Germany, during the American Revoultion, you could probably ride your horse out of your village and into another in an hour of so. In America, if you leave your home, it could days, weeks, even months before you reach another settlement. So the right to bear arms was needed so people could protect themselves, be it from wild animals, criminals, and even the their own government.
Germany didn’t exist back then.
@@rw7668 They obviously meant the people who lived where Germany is now (in this case the Holy Roman Empire).
Back then the government didn't have weapons too superior to what the citizens had.
Now? A full auto assault rifle is pretty much useless. Except for murdering school children.
@tylerbarse2866even then it would be months between towns
The right to bear arms is ALWAYS needed. What will you do if your government one day turns tyrannical and you are fighting them with knives and sticks? What do you do if your government gets you into a war and you are invaded with nothing to defend yourself? Giving up your guns leaves your freedom in the hands of politicians.
A musket ball is the projectile a musket fires. Its a long barrel, front loaded, unrifled, single shot firearm.
"Samual Adams" name was also used to name a popular beer in the USA.
Made in Boston, where he lived...hence why it was named for him.
Oyster shells are not harder than rocks... but they are really sharp.
Not only sharp but readily available near port city’s. They used to pack them into the soil to help slow down erosion and stabilize the ground from moving.
@@joshualux8309I'm pretty sure oyster shells can also easily cause infections, especially when they didn't have antiseptics or antibiotics back in the day... it would basically be like throwing used needles you found in a New York alley
Many of the old buildings in Savannah have oyster shells packed into the wall of thier buildings. They didn't stop but slowed down musket balls.
They are crazy sharp! When I first moved to South Carolina from Michigan, my husband cut his foot very badly on an oyster shell walking on the beach.
Looking forward to Part 2! Oversimplified, The USA Civil War is a great video also!
There are a LOT of stories buried in the American Revolution. I’ve lived and worked in the Boston area and, for the last 16 years, I’ve commuted to work literally next door to the National Park site near where the Battle of Lexington was fought - where re-enactments are done every year.
Yes, Jefferson had slaves, but Oversimplified didn’t have time to point out that Jefferson also wanted to put an anti-slavery clause in the Declaration of Independence. He was forced to remove it because the southern colonies wouldn’t sign on with that clause still in it.
One reason that they made note of Benedict Arnold is because of what happened in their “Part 2” - after being passed over for promotions and recognition for his efforts, he decided to betray the Continental Army by trying to give the plans of the military installation at West Point to the British so they could best attack and capture it. In this country, even now over 200 years later, you could literally hear people call someone a “Benedict Arnold” instead of using the actual word “traitor”.
Washington was about to be run out of the Army for all of his defeats. There was a joke going around that, when the Crown’s forces would finally capture everyone, they would hang everyone ‘famous’ that they knew - but Washington would escape because the British military had only ever seen the back of his head. The Battle of Trenton would change all that. That’ll be in Part 2 as well.
There are a lot of things that can be categorized in the “if that didn’t happen, the United States lose” column. If they didn’t get the artillery to Dorchester Height in time.. If the fog didn’t roll in at Brooklyn Heights. If the Hessian mercenaries didn’t get drunk in Trenton on Christmas. If the French weren’t supplying the overwhelming share of gunpowder and other arms to the Continental Army. If Franklin hadn’t brokered a peace deal. If the French ships didn’t *finally* show up when they did…. And there are a lot more of those…
And there IS one fact that’s not too well known about the objections to all the taxes. The group we call “the Founding Fathers” are often referred to as ‘businessmen’. At times, it would be more accurate to call them “smugglers”. The taxes were levied on goods that were having their prices set artificially low and the smugglers basically couldn’t compete. That part doesn’t get a lot of recognition because it doesn’t fit the narrative of people sacrificing their livelihoods for the ideal of freedom and independence. But it WAS a contributing factor.
“Washington would escape because the British had only seen the back of his head.”
I actually LOL’d. I love that our sense of humor hasn’t changed from the very beginning of the country.
In the mini-series Sons of Liberty, there are scenes with John Hancock trying to keep up his deal with Governor Hutchinson, that the Governor would "look the other way" at Hancock's non-taxed merchandise, as long as there was payment to the Governor.
Things were different back then. It was normal to own slaves, it was what you did if you had any kind of wealth back then. I cant stand when people retroactively apply modern morality. As if people in 200 years wont look at all the pollution and waste the average person emits daily in the same way we view slaveowning 200 years ago. Its all atrocious, but people live according to the times and current moral code.
A musket ball is basically an old fashioned bullet. They were used in muskets, an old fashioned gun.
Something that doesn't get mentioned in this video is that, in the wake of the Boston Massacre, the British soldiers were put on trial in Boston for murder. They were defended by that young lawyer by the name of John Adams, who did so not because he believed that the soldiers behaved correctly (he absolutely did not), but because he believed it was not sufficient for the government to state that an unlawful act had taken place, but that the government further had to prove that the act, in addition to being unlawful, was also unjustified. His defense was successful, and the soldiers were acquitted in light of the circumstances they were under, as the jury felt that in the same circumstances, they would likely have behaved the same way.
John Adams would go on to assist Thomas Jefferson with the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which he was also one of the first to sign, served an important role in organization during the War for Independence, was instrumental in the creation of the Constitution, and would serve as the second President of the United States.
17:34 A musket ball is a type of bullet for the firearms of the time. The tip of a modern 'bullet' is actually _the_ bullet, and the rest is a cartridge containing the gunpowder, plus the primer charge which is struck by the firing pin to ignite the powder. Colonial muskets did not use such convenient rounds (they hadn't been invented yet), and were loaded from the front end, the muzzle.
Preparing a muzzle-loader for firing involved pouring in gunpowder, some form of wadding such as a bit of paper to help contain it for firing, and the musket ball, then tamping it all in place using the ramrod, a special long, thin tool that was mounted on the underneath side of the barrel when not in use. The gunpowder would have been set off by a bit of flint that was part of the cocked hammer, which when the trigger was pulled struck a piece of steel and produced a spark (similar to modern cigarette lighters), igniting the powder and propelling the ball.
Later innovations were developed where the bore of the barrel was given rifling grooves that would impart a spin to the bullet, making it more accurate, and these grooves are where we get the term 'rifle'. But colonial muskets would have been smooth-bore, and shot these round balls less accurately, at shorter distances, with lower muzzle velocity than more modern weapons.
Counter-intuitively, these low-velocity balls actually did more damage than smaller, faster modern bullets. If struck by a modern bullet in the arm, one might expect a relatively small wound. The larger, slower musket balls would obliterate the arm, the bone, and would usually require amputation due to the extensive damage.
Anyway, besides the high-level gun lore, the insult to the British of melting down a statue of their king to make ammunition against his army shows us somewhat of the spirit of these early patriots.
Knox being able to transport heavy artillery cross country, with essentially no roads, won the siege of Boston. Normally, the cannon would have been sent by boat down the Hudson, then by ship to Boston, but the British controlled all the water routes.
Yes, Knox, Nathaniel Green, and others were key in logistics of spreading men and supplies supporting the war efforts.
That green flag was a Regimental flag as we had no national flag at first.
As an American I am happy to see that you are interested in our history. Truth be told we had help from a very famous German general trained by Frederick the great to win the war of independence against the British. His name was baron von Steuben I believe. He was such a good general with good tactics that America adopted his tactics all the way to 1812 and possibly after as he was very successful in battle. He is also a grandfather in the German community in America from my understanding.
There isn't much to say at this point, I'll comment after part 2! Great reaction so far my friend!
Oh yeah. Wall street New York, actually named because of a wall there.
Hey, I'm personally from the 50 states myself, its nice to see others learn about our history over in the states, Love your videos keep up the good work!
8:00 - Yes that is largely why. Remember, during the American Revolution the British regulars began by confiscating firearms. Not only were those arms the British were trying to confiscate the arms that were ultimately used by the rebelling forces during the war, but keep in mind that this area was not nearly as developed as it was today and those arms that were confiscated were often needed for hunting and defense from wild animals, or if you were even farther out you may need it to protect yourselves from bandits, hostile native americans, or colonists from other nations.
To add onto this, the framers of the US constitution did not believe in standing armies and believed that the national defense should largely be formed of independent militia that were not run by the government. The militia would need to provide their own weapons and equipment so you naturally need to ensure they can poses said arms. Also if you look at early laws for the defense of the country you'll see that the militia is considered to be organized regular groups, and the unorganized militia which is every adult male up to the age of 65. If there was an emergency then the idea was you would recruit from the militia and form army then disband it when the war was over.
So glad to see you reacting to Oversimplified. Loved the video keep them coming.
As to your question about the colonies only being on the Atlantic coast (~9:21), the areas to the south and west did not have organized colonial governments, though the land was claimed by Britain. The colonies of the coastal areas had governments, and sufficiently large populations to build serious resentment of British rule. Samuel Adams was a brewer in addition to his political activities. His name is now used by a major brewery in Boston, MA.
Also, by British law, no settlements could be made past the Appalachian Mountains.
Those western areas had hardly any people of British or any other European descent living in them. The Appalachian Mountains run from Maine to northern Georgia and were a significant physical barrier to travel and settlement, though they didn't stop it entirely. Also, not surprisingly, the Native Americans who lived there didn't want more Europeans moving in. They had support from the French, who claimed the area in theory but didn't have many settlements there, and didn't want the British expanding into it. Then, because the Britsh government didn't want to provoke conflicts with them, it forbid any of its colonists to settle there. So those western areas were claimed by Britain but had no British population to speak of.
@mccaine1 Plus the British did not want the colonists moving west. They were in the process of creating a Native American state west of the Appalachians.
@dennisweidner288
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@mccaine1 Plus the British did not want the colonists moving west. They were in the process of creating a Native American state west of the Appalachians.
16:34 Washington wasn't a great tactician; he lost far more battles than he won. But what he was, was a fantastic leader. He knew how to rally and motivate his men, and he was also pretty good at listening to advice from others, as he understood his own weaknesses fairly well.
Right to bear arms is the right to defend ourselves from foreign AND domestic corrupt governments
9:05, they weren't settled yet. Keep in mind there's a giant mountain range to the west of the colonies called the Appalachian mountains that kind of restricts short-term expansion.
Yup. Second ammendment and the Militia acts were written just after that war. The Militia acts were later repealed, but they set the precedent. Now apply that to modern day tech where airborne troops exist....
The National Guards serve in every state and is used to bridge the American militia tradition and a standing army. The National Guards are in most (or all) states which fulfills 1) a regulated “militia” in each state and 2) can be federalized in times of crisis by the President (or is it the Executive Branch? I know they have been federalized in WWI & WWII).
Incidentally, the monarch ruling Britain at that time was George III, a descendant of the German House of Hanover.
Not merely a descendant of. He was simultaneously King of Great Britain and Elector of Hannover, the two realms being governed separately but with the same monarch. It was, naturally, easy to rent German troops from Hannover.
First of the Hanover kings to be born in Britain. On the whole, not a bad king but he shoulda looked to what happened to Charles I and what happens when you respond to valid criticism with total intransigence.
Milita were part time civilian soldiers in essence required to have a gun that defended their homes and towns. They only occasionally trained. This idea goes back to Jamestown and Pilgrim settlements when there was no such thing as any English Army units in America. Americans defended themselves.
Yes, it was also an English tradition in the Medieval times, so it would make sense that the militia tradition would play a role in early settlement and American history because the colonists couldn't rely on England because of a huge ocean barrier.
That's wonderful. Thanks for the feedback. My favorite part was the background of how the original documents were preserved and translated despite high risk of destruction.
The 2nd part is the best part. You'll even get some German involvement. One was very important but only gets a brief mention. Maybe do a little digging into Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben.
8:55 only the colonies on the coast were populated. The Appalachian mountain range made it very difficult to traverse to those areas, so they were very sparsely, if at all populated. The main population centers were near or on the coast.
The real problem of "Rebels" vs the British Army was that the Minutemen's firearms were simple Fowling Pieces, trade muskets, and rifles. None of which would take a bayonet. The British combat strategy at this time was to march up in range of your musket actually hitting something, firing, and then an attack with bayonets. Not too many farmers will stand there trying to re-load their weapons while a line of gleaming bayonets is quickly approaching. No wonder they learned to hide behind trees and sniping.
Great personality & reactions, Chris. Always love your content & your personality.
The British also employed German mercenaries. When the British lost, they left many of the Hessian troops behind rather than pay for them to be returned to Europe.
The story of the Headless Horseman grew from a true story of a Hessian soldier who lost his head from a canon ball. There are stories that actually, the Van Tassel family grew fond of a particular Hessian, who might have saved one of their children who was lost. The story is that when the Hessian was killed by the canon ball, the Van Tassel family had the Hessian buried in the Old Dutch Burying Ground, in an unmarked grave (via Wikipedia).
i like your videos. very pure and relaxing.
That “tea party” is why Americans drink coffee and have ever since. Lmao cancel culture was strong then too 😂
You've obviously never been to the south. Also, "cancel culture" isn't a real thing.
Iced sweet tea is a thing
I am descended from 2 Revolutionary War soldiers.
Lieutenant Daniel Kirtland, called with the first calling of the troops at Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He was among the Colonial Forces who chased the British back to Boston after the Battles of Lexington & Concord. He then participated in the Siege of Boston. He served in Captain John Ely's Company.
John Haroon (can't remember if that is the correct first name) from Vermont who marched to Boston meeting other forces there also participating in the Siege of Boston.
When you delve into the service of the Revolutionary War soldiers, you discover they only served a few weeks or months at a time, and changed companies every time they reenlisted. Haroon was I think in 5 different companies the 5 times he enlisted for a few weeks or months. Far different from today or even in the Civil War.
Later, by the time after the Brooklyn Heights Standoff, enlistments in the Continental army, were for 1 year.
7:30 Oyster shells are hard as a rock and it has sharp edges that will cut you wide open if you took one to the face
5:30 So, a bit of helpful context here: when the British established their North American colonies, there were a few challenges to overcome. For one, the north Atlantic crossing was, and remains to this day, one of the deadliest stretches of ocean in the world. The colonies also didn't provide much in the way of economic value. Most of the interest was based on speculative future value.
So the British established the colonies under a system of "salutory neglect," V meant that the colonies would receive virtually no support from Britain and would not be represented in parliament, but would also be exempt from most laws, taxes, and obligations levied upon other British citizens. This attracted a uniquely independent-minded colonist to North America. The kind of person who was willing to forego the comforts and security of civilization to be free of its obligations. So when Britain started enforcing laws and levying taxes, the colonists were kind of like, "woah, hold up, this isn't what we agreed to."
Oyster shells are very sharp. It's quite easy to lacerate yourself on them by accident just by handling them. I would not want to have a barrage of them thrown at me by an angry mob. (They also probably stank of rotting seafood by the time they were easily available to pick up and throw at soldiers!)
As for gun ownership back in colonial times, bear in mind that even by the 18th century, western Europe had already eliminated many of its large predators, or pushed them to the furthest reaches of settled land. Even leaving aside encounters with the native Americans, the colonies still had wolves, bears, and mountain lions to worry about. Large predators were far more numerous in close proximity to human settlement than they were in most of 18th century western Europe.
Yes the fog. In many wars you can sometimes point to one tiny detail that if were different it could have changed the entire outcome of the war. Such as a storm, blizzard, or even a spy getting caught. Sometimes the most insignificant thing, getting stung by a bee, stopping to rest, can cause the most dramatic shift in an outcome. The fog is considered one of these in American history.
Hello, I'm glad you are interested in American history. I have a German great-grandmother who loved America and taught her 15 children to love America. Germans make great Americans. 👍
Germans brought the tradition of the Christmas Tree. Thank you very much:)
My German ancestors came to America in 1748 and settled in the wilderness of central Pennsylvania. The first son, born in 1752, was named Adam. He joined a regional militia for 90 days, which joined the American Army to cross the Delaware River with Gen. Washington on Christmas morning in 1776.
17:15 - Technically his bank owned the slaves. That's one of the complicating reasons he never managed to free them during his lifetime.
The 2nd Amendment part about “the regulated militia” was due to the success of the Revolutionary War. Before that, the early (English) settlers had set up local militias similar to what they had in England, partially due to the British Civil War and other reasons-but the colonists couldn't wholly rely on British support because they were across the ocean.
@11:51 the green flag was Ethan Allen's. The Green Mountain boys wore green tunics to better blend with the vegetation. The revolutionaries fought using "guerilla warfare tactics" Hiding in the bushes and trees. And flanking the British , who were marching out in the open. This is how the colonists had success against the British.
Please continue reacting to Oversimplified videos: American Civil War, Cold War, etc.
I don’t know why, but I really enjoy your videos! Keep ‘em coming, and good luck with the channel!
I had family on the side of the colonists, in the British regulars, AND some who were among the Hessians the British pressed into service. Kind of funny to think about looking back.
Oh my, I'm so glad to find your channel 🥰 you enjoying this video gave me goosebumps 💜
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were on the committee to write a declaration of principles. Franklin and Adams quickly assigned Jefferson to be the writer. Jefferson hesitated but agreed to the task because Franklin and Adams were on many committees and Jefferson wasn't. Jefferson then wrote the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable..." Franklin interrupted. "Sacred and undeniable? SMACKS of the Pulpit! Smacks of the pulpit!" Jefferson said that he chose every word with precision and Franklin said: "These truths are self evident are they not? Fine. Self evident it is." So all humans have these words to be their own: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.--That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Everyone believes that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but he had help from a church mouse who lived with Ben Franklin. The truth was exposed in the film " Ben an Me". The mouse also invented and discovered all the things Ben Franklin was given credit for.
@@WILTALK Yes. Franklin edited out "sacred and undeniable" and put in "self evident"
4:10 to be fair on this oversimplified joke, I'm sure a lot of american colonists thought "England spend money on the war, but we spent our blood."
You should really check out Fat Electrician's video called, "Angry Old Veteran vs. 700 Redcoats - Samuel Whittemore". It goes along with what is shown in this video at 11:07 when the British Army is retreating from Concord and fleeing back to Boston. Samuel Whittemore was an angry old man that attacked the British army by himself. Whittemore was fearless and tough as nails.
As a Whitmore who rarely ever sees his name in media, þis really sent me for a loop. I’ll have to look into Samuel Whittemore.
@@claypigeon7063 If you watch Fat Electrician's video, he mentions what a huge family that Samuel Whittemore produced. He had a lot of children, and his children apparently also had lots of children. Who knows, you might be related to the guy, which would be pretty awesome.
Many of the further westward lands were owned by the British but unsettled or sparsely populated, whereas the coast was crowded, had direct trade with England, and so were richer. They had the money to raise militias, and so that's where most of the fighting happened. America at first didn't have an army at all, but militias, which were volunteer groups made up of farmers who came together, got a little bit of training by someone who (hopefully) had served in the military. They had to bring their own gun, but many in the cities did not own one and therefore could not fight unless they could afford to buy one. At least, not until the Continental Army was formed, and anyone without their own gun would be supplied with one.
This is why the "Right to Bear Arms" became so important. It was originally about a civilian's duty to remain vigilant and be ready to take up arms once again, in case our new government turned out to be WORSE than the one we left. (Considering many people assumed Washington would be President-for-Life, this was a legit worry. Washington himself chose to only serve for 8 years, and in the 20th century this became law.)
Of course, in modern times with drones and most of America's military effectiveness being thanks to aircraft, owning an automatic rifle is a slight inconvenience to the insanely massive and powerful American Armed Forces.
9:26 - Samuel Adams is a popular brand of beer in America. He ran a brewery, and so he used his beer hall for meetings and his funds from beer sales during the early days of the war.
17:35 - "Musket ball" in German is "Musketenkugel." If you still aren't sure since this is 1700s tech and Europeans aren't as gun-nut as Americans, muskets were the most common type of rifle in the world at that time, using black powder and musket balls.
Have you ever considered trying music reactions, maybe on Patreon since RUclips doesn't always like those? Because "Hamilton" is a musical about the lead-up to the American Revolution, the struggles of the war and how it affected average men, and the first few years of trying to set up a new country, as told with a focus on Alexander Hamilton, who rose from an orphaned immigrant and son of a prostitute to Washington's Right-Hand Man. If not, at least watching the musical on your own. It's a fun dive into accurate history put to music. Although, the singing is SO FAST even I can't understand some of it and have to look at subtitles.
There was a lot of British territory west and north of the original 13 colonies that first made up the United States. The first 13 colonies or states were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. Territory west of that was largely unsettled and was dangerous to travel into because the natives would often fight any of the British or colonists who traveled west. Britain pretty much forbid the colonists from traveling into the western territories for fear that they would be killed by the natives. I believe they also made a treaty with the natives promising that no one would settle west of the 13 colonies. The British did also have some settlements in Canada, but they were never considered to be a part of the US or the 13 colonies.
The founding fathers did look to George Washington to lead the rebellion because he had military experience. There was some speculation that he would be up to the task because he was still somewhat inexperienced compared to other British or former British Generals, but he is ultimately who they went with and it paid off in the end.
Samuel Adams was one of the founding fathers, but in more recent history, his name has become an American beer brand.
The right to bare arms was ultimately put into the bill of rights, so the country could better defend itself. It is what helped win the Revolutionary War against the British. The United States also did not have a standing army until.... after World War II? I could be wrong about that, but I don't think we had a dedicated budget and reserves of trained soldiers until WWII and after. Prior to that, the country had to rely on trained militias that the government could call on to fight wars if we were ever attacked. That meant that civilians needed to be able to supply their own weapons.
You bring up some really good points. I would love to see another Oversimplified, but not as simple, more details. :)
Musket ball..ammunition for a muzzle loading flintlock weapon.
Dear goodness you nearly broke me when you said “That is so British to tax tea”
A musket ball is the ammunition used for the preferred personal weapon of the time: the musket (basically a primitive rifle^). The colonists turned a statue of the King of England into "bullets" to shoot his soldiers with. The first of the five men shot by the British at the Boston Massacre was a Black man named Crispus Attucks. And yes, the 2nd Amendment was ratified (in part) as a "check" against an overreaching and tyrannical government (thus the phrase "2nd Amendment solutions"). Part of the reason why the colonists were able to defeat a well trained, professional army is because, although they were unfamiliar with military drill and tactics and lacked a formal chain of command, they were dedicated, knew the terrain, had the initiative and, crucially, they were armed. This has had a profound impact on America's relationship to guns.
^The musket is so simple and so iconic (and also so inaccurate, slow to fire, noisy and awkward to use) that modern ones aren't even regulated by our federal government as guns provided they're modeled exactly after designs created prior to about 1898. They can be shipped to a person's doorstep and purchased by people normally prohibited from owning guns (which, again, they're not legally). Different states might have stricter rules, of course.
I'd not heard that detail...how PERFECT. lol.
I'm from Boston and it was so cool to see you do a reaction on the Revolution! You must come visit sometime, you would be so welcome here and it's an easy flight from Germany! We have amazing culture, history, global food, sports, nature, and without the HUGE city feel of NYC (though it's definitely worth visiting there too). Love your channel, keep the videos coming!
The history is great with the comedic effect..but the detail is facinating to me. As an old vet, I'm interested in HOW not just who and when. Just me I guess.
not just you. me too 😊
THAT FOG WAS A MIRACLE!!!! it was one of the British soldiers who obviously got nervous or anxious that fired first because it wasn’t any of the colonists. Leave it to a nervous British soldier .😂 That Fog in New York was a miracle, and for the longest time, and even today, some people who are Christians believe in divine intervention, and since there has never been any type of fog on that island at all, but just that once, at least, for the first couple hundred years that people inhabited this land, It was either a coincidence or divine intervention, because it saved those American troops and General Washington news, and said himself they couldn’t afford to lose anymore!! He made sure that they had fires going through the night so the British would think they were camping and sleeping because he knew that the British would come after them first thing in the morning after daylight and George Washington major every one of his troops had gotten across the river in a boat before he left!! That’s true leader ship, because any general colonel or commander that leads from the front and is the first one to hit the ground in the last one to leave is the type of leader that every unit needs!!! If it were not for that fog, all of those American militia would’ve been killed for sure!!
The minute men could fight, but they weren’t as well trained as the British military. The people in the USA are in the Americas. We’re always crazy having boxing and wrestling contest and these guys and families were in good shape because most of them were farmers and had hard jobs.. of course, they were going to be tough and strong compared to the spoiled British military. The British military had better weapons, but hand-to-hand combat. The Americans had them beaten.. The British were just trying to get the colony’s Own Arsenal weapons to try to disarm us. NOO!!!! not our weapons you don’t ! Here in the USA, we have animals that eat you and plus there were the Indians and guns were a means of hunting and protecting ourselves, and they still are because criminals running wild all over America because progressive district, attorneys and mirrors don’t ever charge these people with hideous crimes they commit, so we do need to defend ourselves, and even more now because we have more criminals and gangs from all over the world plus terrorists. Depending on where somebody attacks depends on what kind of fight that they’re gonna get because these people coming into the country pretty much know where they can get by with stuff and where they can’t. Republican states or the state that aren’t pure centralized government control believing we have too much big fat bureaucracy to pay for but doesn’t want at least 150 or so administrative agencies wants to let business business and not strangle everything by over controlling it like the Democrats socialist do, and this infrastructure bill that was passed a couple years ago- nothing has been done because the regulations are so horrific that they can’t do anything which is why I’m praying Trump gets reelected!!! Our weapons now are for self protection, and if anybody gets into our country, you damned right we’re going to protect our land.
Nobody uses weapons against our government and that’s bullshit except that some hoodlums do you shoot cops sometime and Truthfully, anybody that kills a government employee that works for the police with your local state or federal should get life in prison or the death penalty, because either which way they cost about the same amount of money. I’m more for life in prison, but it just depends on how full it gets in there.
Your words are beautiful 😍 but one thing you left out. So many boats showed up, that it caused a commotion, General George Washington went to see and some body suggested to Washington with all those boats we can walk across. And three pontoon bridges were used. It wasn't George Washington crossing in a boat on a horse.
Colonel Washington had served in the British army in the French and indian wars earlier.
I am absolutely enjoying seeing my own country's history through your eyes. I'm a counter crusade history major so American history was a fleeting thing I had to have to get my degree.
Not many know this, but Jefferson got his 100 slaves when he married Martha Skelton as a dowry. John Wayles was Sally Hemming's and Martha's father. So Sally naturally took care of the house for Martha, her half sister. When Martha died, Thomas Jefferson and Sally grieved together for their loss. Thomas invited, his slave, Sally, to Paris, where she was free, to care for his diplomatic home, where he started the French Revolution, and they fell in love, but couldn't be married because of mixed race.
Thomas Jefferson most definitely did NOT start the French Revolution. Hold onto something solid so you don't fall down in shock when you read this ... The French Revolution was started by the French.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q So you're saying the Declaration of Independence wasn't read, nor started any revolutions that came after it.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q yeah good point... but greg is talking about how the american revolution had a HUGE direct impact/inspiration for the french revolution...so yeah--tom jeff
He “fell in love” with Sally Hemings? Or, he used his power as a slave owner to use his wife’s half-sister, whom neither he nor his wife freed, as his concubine? It’s not necessary to make up a glowing version of his life to recognize his other achievements.
@@gregchambers6100 People are influenced by their influences. Does that make the influences responsible for what those people did? You might as well say the American Revolution was started by the ancient Greek political philosophers and Guy Fawkes.
Fun fact he left out: after the Boston Massacre, John Adams defended the 7 British soldiers in court and won. They were found not guilty of murder. Samuel Adams lead a march against them the next day. Also yes, Sam Adams is a lager beer we have here in the US lol
Re: Washington
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: I'm not a Washington specialist, but from what I recall in college people noticed that Washington always behaved as if he would be a legendary and important man. He was very formal and reserved. But he also really did try to do what was best for people. One of the greatest things he ever did for us was step down after serving for two terms as president. He didn't get voted out. he could have kept going. He could have tried to begin a dynasty. And he didn't. He did believe in the who project of democracy and so held himself to very high standards.
But yeah he seemed to think he would live a life that would leave a mark on history and so tried to live a life that would be remembered and be an example to everyone. Which often came off as stuck up.
Great information!
It’s also interesting (and, perhaps, important to note that Washington was not a particularly good soldier, general, leader….but what he WAS was ambitious!
And there were Americans who WANTED Washington to declare himself a king.
It would have been somewhat difficult for Washington to start a dynasty, as he didn't have any biological children. He had stepchildren but there's next to no chance that anybody outside of Virginia would have accepted any of them as a new king.
Washington could have become king and chose not to become king. This was unprecedented. The president was given a lot of power because of the presumption that GW would be the president and was trustworthy.
Later, critical changes became possible in the US because of the importance of the president, but it's also why we tend to have 2 big and dominant parties, both trying to dominate our politics.
During the Sugar tax, there was still a large contingency of British soldiers in America. They would inspect incoming ships as they landed in the ports and check to see where their cargo came from. If it wasn't GB, back you go.
Once you do the revolution and the war of 1812, you really should 'backktrack' a bit and do The Fat Electrician's video on the Barbary Pirates and formation of the USA Navy. Oh and TFE's "Get off my lawn!" too... all that time period.
It looks so different because that was only the 1st 13 states/colonies...37 states to go... (and, most of the biggest ones).
There IS NO US yet... there are the British Colonies in the Americas. BUT the other part of your Q. why were the others not pissed? They had not been under British 'rule' as long... (*and, maybe the French/Spanish were worse?) Dunno, but makes sense.
Musket ball was the "bullet" of that time.
Great reaction.
"Why weren't these western parts of British America joining the 13 colonies?"
North of the colonies was Maine, which was part of Massachusetts at the time. To the north of those big lakes in the middle of all that land was Quebec, a bunch of Frenchmen that had no stake in this. To the south of that was Louisiana Territory, mostly a bunch of Native Americans and a few Frenchmen that also had no stake in this. On the southern coast was the territories of West and East Florida, until recently was Spanish territory but was now being very lightly settled by recent English immigrants still loyal to the crown. The American colonies now in rebellion had a history of self rule ranging between half a century and a few centuries, and as such were largely culturally distinct from both England and each other by this point. Reasons for the founding of these colonies varied, but most of them originated with some kind of political or religious disagreement with the English Anglican establishment. Between Louisiana and the colonies in rebellion was the Native Reserve, which was created as a thank you to the Native tribes for backing the British during the 7 Years War. This one was one of the points of contention between the British and the Americans, as the Americans wanted to expand out there but not being allowed to by the British. By the time of the Revolution, a bunch of people primarily descended from the Scots would start settling there illegally and take up the fight too, though being the outskirts of the empire meant that little battles of importance were fought here.
Tl;dr, there's a gulf of a cultural and political difference between the 13 colonies and the other British holdings in America at the time.
The Dutch settled New York. Ir was Nieuw Amsterdam
Great Britain even had a tax for every "glass" window you had in your home. I learned this from a tour of the Lexington and Concord Battle grounds in Lexington Massachusetts
Sam Adams is a brand of beer
Sam Adams was a second cousin of John Adams. He was also one of the Founding Fathers and a Continental Congress member. After the war he served in the Massachusetts senate then eventually elected as governor.
By trade, he was made a partner in the family business by his father, running a malt house. They produced malt for brewing beer.
The Tea Tax... Why Americans became the biggest coffee drinkers in the late 1700s through 1800s.
First! And yeah, Oversimplied is a great channel. He’s got a lot of good stuff
One thing I was taught in school but never seen mentioned here, is how Americans had the advantage of knowing the land. I mean, imagine you're a soldier in the UK, who has then been sent to an actual desert, or desolate mountains. These are the places we played in as kids. We knew the landscape, we knew how to utilize it, and that's how farmers and shop clerks took down an army
You are correct that royals married each other for political alliances and it lead to massive inbreeding. Royals suffered from genetic maladies, deformities, and mental illnesses. For ex. King George III was mad (I don't know specifically what plagued him), Prince Alexander of Russia (Tsar Nicholas II’s son & Victoria’s descendant) suffered from hemophilia, and King Charles V of Spain had a remarkably distinct chin (look it up, it is strange to look at), etc.
7:35: Its not that oyster-shells are harder than rocks, but rather that they're basically a tiny dull ceramic Ax-head that shatter into razor fragments when thrown.
Yes the right to bear arms comes from this. American milita already were required to own a gun. They fought hand in hand with the British to kick the French out.
🤦♂
5:59 - While I think you have a point, I had a teacher that told us that the reason why those old portraits look the same or like men is because the painters usually used their own face as a reference.
It's extremely unlikely that the Colonies would have been able to defeat the British without help from France, Spain and Holland. France is our oldest ally.
France didn't actually join until it was a near certainty that American would win. The Americans were on their own for a long time, and France was seeing which way the wind would blow.
@@Anon54387 Which, to be honest, is kind of the way most countries behave, even today. Nobody wans to support the losing side.
The colonies were on their way to defeating the British. As Thomas Paine noted in Common Sense, Britain is a small island, and America is a huge continent. Also, an ocean between them. The small island can't control the huge continent. Despite the battles lost, the colonists would have outlasted the Brits' desire to send troops and spend money on a war on its colonists.
The areas without faces at 9:05 are still almost entirely inhabited by Natives, with some scattered British and old French forts. There were very few colonists inhabiting those areas and they were relatively ungoverned despite being British claimed land. Samuel Adams is also an American beer named after the man mentioned as a Founding Father.
Defense against a tyrannical government but while politically incorrect it was true, most of the Native American tribes had a raiding culture with varying degrees of violence
doesn't matter that it was politically correct.. its just true. You could just omit that part about politically correct. Why? Because being politically correct is pointless, all it means is that one is trying to keel over like a dog submitting to our modern-day tyrants.
Yes the Native Tribes gave as good as they got until they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers of settlers and the force of the federal government. The romantic idea of the ‘noble savage’ is a myth.
That’s not to say they weren’t shafted by broken promises and treaties. They were. But it’s naive to think they lived in harmony with everyone and everything.
Many of the tribes were British allies. When the Revolution was underway, Indians and British loyalists (called Tories), under the command of the British Army, waged war against American militia and civilians along the western frontier. The frontier was about 150 miles west of New York City and Philadelphia.
To answer your question at 9:06, because the red outside the Atlantic coast weren't colonies as a political entity. They were simply territories of land, they did not have the same style of government.
To understand why the Midwest became states after, look up the Mississippi River Basin.
To answer the question of oyster shells, at the time oysters were a really common food for the lower class, they were like the cheap microwave dinners of the 1700's Boston. You could walk down a street and find piles of discarded shells literally everywhere. In addition to being plentiful ammunition for throwing, chipped or broken shells could be quite sharp. And finally, rotting oysters smell terrible, a final insult to injury when one is getting pelted by them.
"What's a musket ball?"
It's a ball you shoot out of a musket. They turned a statue of the king into thousands of rounds of ammunition.
TRUE TRUE
7:29 oyster shells are sharper, and thus can inflict more damage than a rock depending on the size of the rock, of course lol
Oversimplified is an amazing cc!
Closed captions?
@@mazdaman2315 content creator sorry 😖
Hallo! German-American again to answer your Teutonic questions.
4:17 - Yes they did. At that point in time America was still Colonial and still a subject of the British Crown. The 7-Years War was VASTLY different in the US, to the point where Americans know it as "The French and Indian War". As part of the American theater of the War the French allied with Native American tribes to fight British and Colonial troops. Among these Colonial forces was George Washington, who would later become famous for being an American Badass. Also Britain forced America to buy things because at that time Britain and her companies had a monopoly on much of the shipping and transportation, as the world's largest navy. As America was still a subject of Britain they had to follow British laws. This obviously disgruntled many Continentals.
7:09 - During this period of time it was almost a certainty to drink water. This is why tea and beer were so popular: the process of making both largely kills the bacteria in the water. By taxing tea the British were essentially taxing water, and if you couldn't afford it too bad. To Americans this came across as "pay us or die".
7:48 - This is an example of why we have the 2nd Amendment, but there are innumerable others. The thought process behind it was that an armed populous would be difficult to rule over in tyranny. You must remember that serfs were not allowed to own guns - for fear they would overthrow their masters. This is the logic behind why the founding fathers wrote this into our Constitution.
8:55 - this is Oversimplified, the American Revolutionary War was a long and bloody affair. Much happened in other areas, but this is where the Revolution Proper kicked off. The areas you point to were, at that time, relatively remote and unpopulated by Europeans.
9:31 - Sam Adams is a popular brand of beer in the US, named after the American Patriot Samuel Adams. It was originally invented and brewed in Boston, MA.
10:51 - Yes at this point in time this was not an army, this was farmers with muskets. Later in the war the Patriots were turned into a more organized and efficient army by Baron von Steuben, but at this point in the war these are farmers and Patriots with guns.
11:30 - Basically yes but the Patriot forces likely would have lost without French aide/intervention and Spain's declaration of war on England. You must remember that the French were instrumental in securing our victory at Yorktown.
13:06 - Yes but Oversimplified is correct, he did show up in a uniform. He also had bright orange hair, a serious temper problem, and was a giant for his time (over 6 feet in height). He was a somewhat modest man, however, and him retiring after 2 terms is what set the precedent of President not seeking a third term. At this point in history that was very radical: Kings and Queens ruled nations until they died, and then their children ruled them. America was unique in allowing its population to choose who their representative was. So much so that the title "President" was specifically chosen as it (had) little prestige, similar in meaning to being President of a social club.
13:45 - This was an extremely important battle during the Revolutionary War. Think of this as your Franco-Prussian War, but make it last for 18 years instead (yes the Revolutionary War lasted for 8 years but it was also a social movement - remember "Join Or Die"?), also make it so the French were an existential threat to your life and existence.
17:36 - A musket ball is a round piece of shot, generally lead, used as the projective for a musket. A musket is a smooth-barrel long gun. The difference between a musket and a rifle is that a rifle is "rifled", meaning that there is a twist down the barrel. This allows the projectile (bullet) to gain significant momentum to to tumbling down the barrel as well as increases accuracy and range. Rifles did not yet exist during the 1770s and 1780s, and as such people used muskets instead. A musket would have black powder poured down the barrel, then the musket ball placed into it and tamped down with a rod. The musket would then be loaded and read to be fired. Except a musket ball was significantly larger than modern bullets: as such a musket ball could easily blow a limb off.
18:41 - Possibly. It is likely some Patriot forces would have escaped but I would imagine the death toll would be significantly higher. If Washington was killed it would have struck a blow to the cause but when something grows that big as a movement it generally cannot be stopped. Washington was, however, known to use weather and fog to his advantage - as seen in his crossing of the Delaware River. You are correct in stating all these people were very brave, though. The saying among the Founders was "we hang together or we hang separate".
I'd like to see you do a video on the American Civil War as well as America's response to both WW1 and WW2. It would be extremely interesting to see that from a German's perspective.