This is a clear, crisp, insightful review of specific segment of American history that a lot of Americans know in part already, and plenty that the average American does not know. [Note to Trump supporters: There is absolutely no mention of the Continental Army seizing the airports, so you may not trust anything written in this book.] As I read the book, I thought this would have been the history professor I would like to have had in college. The author takes more than a few fairly complicated historical events and makes sense of their juxtapositions and transitions. Very well known Americans like Washington and Adams are highlighted, but also much lesser known key figures like Robert Morris. If you didn't know already that the Declaration of Independence ("1776!") and the U.S. Constitution ("We the People") were not same thing, then you might be stunned to know that there was an Articles of Confederation in between those two documents and that the original U.S. Constitution -- pay close attention "originalists" -- did not have a Bill of Rights. All in all, this was a most pleasant history read, even if does assume at times that the reader already knows a minimum level of real American history as opposed to myth. ( )

It was clear to me that in The Cause Joseph Ellis, a Pulitzer-winning historian, who sets a high standard for himself, and has covered the American Revolution comprehensively, will go over much of the same ground in this entry. I didn’t expect to learn as much new material as I did, however.

We know George Washington struggled throughout the war to equip, pay, and feed the Continental Army, and really never succeeded in convincing Congress to spend the funds necessary. We know he waged a desperate war, a war in which he could never engage the British toe-to-toe; he led his army through force of charisma and loyalty, and benefited from an inordinate amount of pure good fortune. In this volume, though, we clearly see that Washington’s staff was far from unified in its admiration for their leader; we encounter Washington’s tardy realization that New York was no longer the key battleground at the end of the war; and that the dilatory system of information from and to England played a pivotal role in the outcome.

Some historical facts that I had not known before picking up this volume: I was not aware that George III had literally bought and paid for a majority in Parliament who owed their seats, their very careers, to His Majesty. I learned of the infighting at the top levels of the military on both sides (Horatio Gates and Arthur Lee both had it in for Washington; Sir Henry Clinton was despised, and his orders as commander in chief widely ignored, on the British side).

I finally comprehended the animus in the erstwhile colonies against forming a federal government—they had just succeeded in throwing off a remote, greedy, and tyrannical government. The last thing they wanted was to set up a new one to replace it. And finally, Ellis avers that the war the British wanted to fight was doomed to failure from the start. The only historical fact you need in support of that assertion is the savagery with which the militias in the Southern states treated the British regulars.

Other tidbits worthy of note: the Oneida tribe, alone among the Six Iroquois Nations, supported the Colonists’ cause; and the bulk strength of the French fleet, instrumental in the British Army’s final entrapment, was only off the coast of Virginia because of the approaching hurricane season in the Caribbean.

Needless to say my understanding of the Revolution and the politics surrounding it is more complete and nuanced than before reading The Cause. Yours will be too; if the American Revolution interests you, and you haven’t picked up this book, I urge you to do so right away.

https://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-cause-by-joseph-j-ellis.html ( )

If one were asked to write a short history of the American Revolution, I don't think that you could do better than this. The author exposes the founding fathers, both the well and lesser known, as human. He does not limit his examination to either the American aristocracy or the common citizen, loyalist or revolutionary. He explodes many a myth, including the notion that our remembrance of the war hasn't been mythologized. He points up the many similarities between those times and the present. And, he reminds us of Samuel Johnson's comment, Why is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?. ( )

between 1.5 and 2 stars. not what i was hoping for after reading american psychosis but chock full of information that i've probably mostly already forgotten. it turns out i can't sustain focused interest in military stories, even this one. i was surprised to learn that it seemed like george washington was a pretty crappy general, although a halfway decent guy. he, and jefferson, also were theoretical abolitionists, so it sucks that they didn't act on this and really change the course of our country. what legacy they could have actually left. (the plan was for slavery to peter out because they didn't think it was sustainable and obviously a moral wrong - to be sure, they still kept their own slaves - and even more obviously went against the very word of what they fought for in their fight for independence. so instead of taking a stand, and instead of caring about the people who were slaves at the time, they opted to let it die out, thinking it would be a relatively quick death. what a miscalculation, and how cold hearted for the people who were affected, even if it hadn't lasted long after.) ( )

Ellis writes in an intriguing history. It provides insight on a truly large scale over a series of events with which we are still debating. His main thesis deals with what the Americans were fighting for....then, when the war was won, mailaise over a federal government set in. One could argue that it still exists. ( )