Transcripts For CSPAN2 Woody 20240705

Thank you so much Nathan Alfred tate again. Thank you all so much for tuning in and please catch us at the next program and also, come to the museum come visit. To watch online, anytime a cspan. Org history. This date of history explores why and how things happen and sometimes it seems these familiars are revealed and his new book liberty, he seeks out the Hidden History of American Revolution. He is more than a thousand eyewitness accounts to constructive history and many of those are freely Available Online and the original words are leading figures of the revolution it can be found on founders online website hosted by the National Archives International Historical publications and Records Commission and children in Elementary Schools across america learn of the declaration of independence and the battles led by George Washington. Tutor 50 years the American Revolution and the outcome can appeared inevitable but engaging in defeating military powers such as Great Britain required the involvement of people of many walks of life and they waited uncover the roles played by women native americans enslaved africans and africanamericans and religious dissenters and also focuses on often overlooked factors such as weather, geography and disease and too often we jump from july 4th of 1776 to washingtons current presidency and the rover seven years of warfare liberty is sweet that they market revolution and many people up and down the spectrum were influenced. And the professor of history at the university of South Carolina and he teaches and researches Early American History especially the American Revolution it pays the author of several books including abigail adams, which was awarded bancroft prize and he sold the book on early americans, and the overorigins of the constitution was the analyst for the National Book award and turning him in conversation is nicole, assistant professor of history at the university of South Carolina where shes also the director of the public is to reprogram and fellow faculty africanamerican studies at the Walker International institute and now lets hear from these two and thank you for joining us today. Welcome and thank you so much for being here and i am here with woody and im really excited to talk about this new book liberty is sweet, the Hidden History of the American Revolution rated quality, one of your big claims in this book is about the hidden influences on the american evolution rated i really want to talk about some of those and ive really want to start out first year talking about the different groups that you highlight in this narrative of this incredibly engrossing narrative of about this Hidden History so lets jump into it. What are some of these major groups and is hidden influences and why have they come to shape your research so heavily. Will first want to thank you for doing this in the program with me have a lot of reasons to be proud of her History Program and usc but the fact that we have two early americans that we can have a conversation like this is really cool and i know that you have a class right after this so appreciate you taking the time and self from the groups and i talking about art native americans, who of course still occupy most of the continent in 1772 and the guys who declared independence call themselves, but they talk and it occupied about a sixth of it and native americans and their significant but there also really help get the revolution started i would like to argue that they won the war in the west the Indigenous People dead. Now one in five people in the 13 colonies were africanamerican and they also usually influenced the revolution and in fact i argue that if they hadnt been some of the things a rep to come the revolution ever come to the south which is one of the great wealth of north america and a lot of the people in the colony, my home in the colony of the state of virginia so think africanamericans have a huge impact in the revolution and in turn, as you know from your own work, and positively and also negatively so thats another thing for the africanamericans and people will be lisa price want to say that women of all ranks and braces at a huge impact because they only and always doing work to be you and i share a graduate student, who has done amazing work on womens role in the Continental Army so maybe we will talk about that but i also followed through something with your maribeth norton advisor read about a few years before you were with her there at cornell about reading who formed a group in pennsylvania women to help the soldiers but she got ended several rows with George Washington that we are talking about. So the big three groups that i mentioned of the native americans and africanamericans and the women. Yes and i wanted to definitely want to get to talking about asked her free but it wanted to start with this compelling you and the way that you open the book in the compelling view of this that shows the continent as being an indigenous place and i think that one really compelled by how you chose this image as a way to come into this and also how you set your book in the history of the revolution by starting it in what is known in the United States and the french indian war but known internationally as the sevenyear war to point out also misnomer until its a little bit about why you chose to highlight or centralize the continent as an indigenous place first and why you are so focused on starting this kind of history of the revolution it with the conflict especially on ohio. Okay great thanks and really put the map for nicole is talking about of america in 1736. It is a great point, there is a real sense of why did American Revolution happen, thats the wrong question to be asked him why can the colonists, were asking the wrong question theres a sense of empowerment and the people in power to John Hancock John adams in massachusetts and George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in virginia and they were pretty satisfied with their role in the British Empire as the years of 1762 and as these guys the house of commons here who were dissatisfied and they wanted to make changes and so, put that slide to frame this whole discussion but were really talking about the british grievances against the colonies and the things that they wanted to change in the parliament did try to change it the parliament would ultimately lead to the revolution sweeping of those so when we go to the next light which is the image that we were talking about witches this is just north america east of the Mississippi River but as the and 92, was the territory in eastern mississippi is still occupied by the native americans at this time and i think that primarily on the atlas done, shes actually from the midwest and theres other native nations and one thing that i want to point out is that there are boundaries of the native nations. The old maps are used for cherokee out there somewhere and somewhere north of the work cherokee but larger on the map and the batteries as well as the native americans did not have boundaries. They did and they were contested just like they were in africa and europe and most of the rest of the world is important to see these were nations with having boundaries and also put some of the native towns and their. So many of these maps have been brought to new york philadelphia, charlestown, South Carolina now charleston and zero native towns. In the vast majority of them in eastern mississippi did live in towns so just the presence is really important but i want to make a case that even if you were not hope this is an imaginary person but if you are some mark particularly care about history doll, but you did care about why the American Revolution happen, then you still have to look at the native americans because the huge role they played freighted and answer your question about that nicole, one role that they played was resistance on the land and that leads to the british to draw a line along the west side of the Appalachian Mountains and you see on this map, this shaded area is west of the mountains and us in 1763, the british said if youre a white lawyer, glen speculator, you cannot go into this shaded area. And youve got stay the light basically the light area. And you can understand why the british did that british had just finished this nineyear war recall the sevenyear war for the french and indian war against the french and spanish in all of the native allies. So they were one big exception but mostly the renovations that you see him here, and network is on the french side. And of course the british eventually on in the french almost entirely left north america, and so the british won the war vet that was a long extensive were the nearly doubled their death so the british officials and parliament understood but the people forget sometime today but the most expensive thing the nation ever does is go to war and they did not want to do that again would in this attack on me make sure barely increase at least the possibility of going to war against native americans and for one do not steal their land so we did the proclamation line of 1763. Also a lot of people part of the population line at but theres Something Else some people have not heard of and that is to enforce the proclamation line, betty keep the indians away from the colonists and vice a versa, the British Government made a decision in december of 1762, and that was the war is over, and were going to sign the treaty. It usually do for country like britain, and when the work, you just go home with your overseas but the British Government decided to leave 10000 soldiers in north america is basically peacekeeping troops. The next line, the book there is a contemporary map made by the amazing mapmaker under maker but this one was at the time the red rectangles, you can download this, people watching, condone loan this document from the library of congress and their other versions of it in other places but the rectangles represent the continent, where the troops were placed. Some are from new york, they just conquered canada but the book where the bulk of them i want to call peacekeeping troops yes ornament human wall to keep the indians in the colonists apart. Then the question came up how you pay for that and that led to British Parliament to adopt the stamp act of 1765 in the sugar onto before that going back to in order to come up with the money, would find it these 10000 troops. A lot of the textbooks told us that the reason for the stamp act was to pay off the big debt the British Government had run up doing more but that is not true, if you read it the active says very clearly, this is paying off future expenses of the expense of maintaining the troops there to maintain peace between the colonists and the indians. I cant resist for the modern political rhetoric that the british decided to build this usual on the western border to make the colonists pay for it. Thats what you the stamp act and sugar packed so we did all learn about their representation might not have happened if maybe they had in the been there completely were passive or irrelevant and see we used to be taught something this workable ways that native americans have a huge impact might be got to start with the french and indian war because american were making the colonists the indians map the american colonists were trading with the enemy and the French Islands or children in puerto rico and so forth in the colonists were doing all sorts of things and infuriated the British Parliament. During the french and indian war during the war the french, the British Government could do anything about these things because britain really couldnt when the war without the british and americans on the ground doing the most of the fighting. Start there is a real tension in london whether its almost like a blue lineup of the getting madder madder the colonists the anger cannot be released because onomy colonists until we beat the rent but as soon as they do, and was alluding now we can tell that what theyre mad about them about and romantic visible going to draw a line and this is going to be paid for by you and the sugar act and stamp act. So i was maybe to go so far as to say the indians so something that you have heard of, powerfully influenced by group joubert in different context but not in the context because the American Revolution pretty. You really added provocative moment in your book but you say that if all of the sugar islands like in atlanta so that continent and i really think that seeing that connection it that the actions to smuggling in for this war was so hugely important in this of course is reaction to the economists and also they were funny as you said for the thought they were going to get something out of it. They thought they were going to be able to get this kind of betrayed that they were being curtailed and i really love or have it in a do think that some ways and use the water language that it really does resonate what we are going through, it really does read in a way that does not feel like it has been so long that some of these things and political maneuvers that you see happening within the 18th century america, dozens of read so interesting. And thinking of that indent about the place of this Hidden History that you bring up, want to talk a little bit about the place of africanamericans within this world and a lot of kind of discussion at on the place obviously a black history, enslavement and the Founding Member of course, the fact and this discussion and you cannot avoid read you dont avoid it at all and i want you to talk about this other part of the work, the black americans, the africanamericans their presence within the pointed out, and others have, that this is what were talked about 13 we are talking about 26 colonies in this presence of black people in slavery is also incredibly important so please tell us more. Is said about the 26 because some of the people watching this will say, claimant these guys say they were 26 colonies of that there were only 13. Co. 13 rebelled but as nicole mentioned, they were not alone, there were 26 colonies in america in 1776, several in canada nova scotia on Prince Edward in the bahamas and bermuda but the real jules were the ones nicole has mentioned and those were the sugar islands in the caribbean especially barbados jamaica and is much as i from virginia want to talk about tobacco the number one coupling in north america that was grown mostly by insulative people in north america. Tobacco was not the number one cross throughout the colonies, sugarcane was and partly for candy bars but really thats where you get the molasses that makes rama. When you talk about this today, what is the big burly industry in north america before he had even before the text of males of the industry is that distilleries turning molasses in the roman and molasses from sugarcane raised by slaves in the caribbean and is a reminder that is a virginia, a home from the state built on the slavery people know that, massachusetts was built on slavery as well new york written about in your book bound which comes out on my birthday june 16th of 2022, so shows how dependent new york was on slavery and all of these places from virginia all upper dependent not only on the labor of the enslaved people they claim to own but on the labor of enslaved people in the caribbean who are producing the molasses that also there is a market, have the vision new england for crop was fish half of it goes to the countries where they eat a lot of fish these are allowed to eat meat on fridays, the refuge for this what the enslaved people in the caribbean so economically, we could start their and you cant name a quality where the enslaved people were not even a place like vermont, the 13 state for their inside people a lot but even vermont is dependent on sitting white sox down the caribbean. So economically, this again i think they become hugely significant the africanamericans to late in the process of the fortunes of the revolution if that is reminder to me that you have got to talk about the revolution, is not a decision this him but he made one day and i said the beginning, you cant ask the question, when you start to ask why did they decide to rebel, youre already going down the wrong road because its against the relationship and not talk about the territory festus event in the texas aspect is convenient for me because texas territories and trade we can talk about smuggling molasses up to the islands humans and so forth in texas territory trade and we dont need to get into this is boring, paper money or treasury notes, but of those cases, the parliament that wants to change all of the colonists want is to change or they want to go back to the way things were. He said to me, one of the Great Questions is what is happening around 1774 1735, and mary is always the first one because she wrote a great book about this that happened in that year during that year, they agreed that a lot of this is going into 1775 as well, what term the columnist from just wanting to go back to give the barbara streisand, the way were just from nostalgia really to wanting to separate from all these separate things and what makes them want to jump the cliff into independence and it i say the north the biggest factor was better elections which we correctly think of is the first battle the revolutionary war but also the final part for independence among the new englanders. Because the boston massacre happen it was oneoff and only five people were killed but at lexington, ten people were killed and more as a british made their way home so many from new england would turn them from his calculation of week dont want to pay the sugar tax the gas tax so we got rid of the gas tax minister protected all that so that sort of rational compilation about how can we get back the good times we had in 1762. And basically getting back to the good old days to wanting to be a separate nation and many factors of course the biggest factor of new england, is the battle of lexington and from that faces the question of whether self version conquered and i would say yesterday that is emancipation proclamation, he was the last governor of virginia and in 1775, he was massively outnumbered, there were few whites in virginia who were loyal to the crown the vast majority of free to people in virginia were supporting revolution because they were not ready for independence yet they were mad about all these changes that parliament was trying to impose. So he is outnumbered and he does not have to be outnumbered because 40 percent of virginians were excited and its important to remember the democracy that 40 percent of the southerners in general are enslaved and i think South Carolinas you know, had a white majority at the time and so demographically, we know as well as economically which will be talked about africanamericans but also politically because here is what happened in dunmore in 1775, and things ironic that it was seven years before Abraham Lincoln issued his emancipation proclamation 1963 and november of 1775, dunmore is so outnumbered so desperate for the soldiers for his identity issued a massive printed emancipation automation telling black men hesitating on that but he said, he said able to bear arms and you say that the majority of the africanamericans site majority but the women and children but also a lot of men who are ready to hold muskets read Something Like 800 join him the first two months. There a lot of differences but a lot of similarities and lincolns and that both were always the level area that is he himself, solanki issued this because he suddenly read about and discovered the slavery was horrible. And so, this is not a humanitarian thing on his party was a war measure. And that is how we got to do it he wanted to do it alone but always got to do it because there was a war and likewise, when dunmore issued his emancipation proclamation, it was because he needed labor but the big thing that i would qualify enter qualify about that is the declaration of independence in particular he has instruction among such that we can translate as the british have stirred up our sleeves against us for the big thing that i want to do to very quickly in the National Archives where the declaration of independence is protected today and i want to collect and on this one point rated it was a british stirred up the slaves, we look at the criminology, the slaves start of the british because in november of 1775, in november of 1774, is when my fellow black virginians started to notice this gap between the white rural minority and white patriot majority in the black virginians said it gap between those two factions of whites, theres opportunity for us in the first record we have comes from james madison, the future author of the constitution and the president. And he noticed in 1774, and over the weekend april of 1775 whenever reports all up and down relevant from williamsburg and up to petersburg is today of enslaved people organizing and being ready for the british. Long story short, in april of 1835 made white colonists patted him and so he placed the race card and he said that if you touch a hair my head, i will declare this to the slaves and introduce the town of williamsburg to ashes. Some areas april of 1875, not november, but is threatening to do it. So some enslaved people literally came a knock on the door of the governor and said, okay, but is working you promised us freedom and we will fight like on your side because we want to be free. And what did he do, he turned them away. He said that he can battle with you the enslaved people kept coming. Just like the union army in the early months of the civil war and they also kept coming and eventually after that their use fullness, the governor done the more and only then delete issue that emancipation proclamation so it is really enslaved who put him up to it rather than he had been the slaves up to it and of course they incorporate did this as there protecting us from our slaves not having a slaves rebel against us and is one virginians said, there are aiming a dagger for our slaves. They were furious and there was this in the declaration of independence. But they went a still a British Empire but a major reason they went from that to jumping off the cliff and declaring that pretty. And getting back into the declaration of independence and some of them are kind of really eyeopening things that you talk about in terms of the declaration of head in thinking about how the way that we remember the declaration today that resonates with us we make not as historians of than what people were really focused on during the time but this idea of the pursuit of happyness and that being pulled out one obviously written by jefferson but they became popularized by black thinkers and veterans of the morecally haynes who i wanted to get your thoughts pretty. Okay lets talk about him women next slide that is haynes. So lets go to haynes. So this is after he becomes the first africanamerican congregational faith but before that, in 1876, he was a free black soldier of racial heritage but people referred him as a free black soldier. And congress issued the declaration of independence and heres another provocative thing that i will say at the declaration of independence and that is heres a real sense in which the declaration of independence failed. It failed and its initial goal which was to get a french navy and french army in american waters by the end of the summer of 1776 and that is the real reason that Congress Finally got it back together and receiving a lot of instructions about other places as well but the reason, they have been fighting a war for more than a year they finally declared independence in july of 76. And they did that to get france to come into the war on their side because they had known navy and they had an not much equipment and the love gunpowder. In a recently discovered that these conversations that they were having in 1776 in june said that it would be fast enough, we will have a french Navy American waters findings battles for us by the end of the summer and declared a frontier so they declared independence on july 2nd, 1776, as fascinating because we rightly celebrate july 4th because the act of independence on july 2nd, that significant but it didnt achieve his goal of french navy in america waters, in fact it was involved. Now aathe majority the people quarter that between 1776 when jefferson wrote it and 1799 the First Quarter century the majority the people who quoted it were abolitionists. Black as well as white. They really made the declaration of independence what it is today, its no longer thought of, of course the name is independence its no longer mostly thought of as something of the moment to get branch aid is thought of as universal declaration of human rights and we really owe it to first abolitionists and later women rights activist in the 19th century who did the same thing who turn it into the freedom document that it is now i really am kind of intrigued by another one of your quotes in the book i dont want to jump over too many, hoping were not, get us off in terms of the order that slides but i do want to know because we are talking about and you open the book general washington, he is sure gabe is going to attack him and then you kind of dropped this knowledge bomb on us that they fought on the same side and thats the way you began. What kind of a general was George Washington . Where would you come out on this . Having set my path on this provocatively im going to not turn back and say that in the first year of the war George Washington, he was a great manager because he was experience managing large numbers of people he was a large scare beyond hundreds proclaimed to on audience aa slaves he was a great manager in terms of getting the basic supplies but in general as a strategist washington in my opinion and other historians not all agree, terrible because he was stuck in fifth gear, he was all about taking initiative being aggressive, being on offense and brian, when you go to the next one both the british and colonists other than washington had figured out at bunker hills, brian hit the next. Thats when he quoted aa thats the very first by anyone anywhere is by the formerly enslaved person, lets move on. This is a modern depiction the better of battle of bunker hill, the british tanker likely won the battle of bunker hill that so they to find victory in those days but cost them 50 casualties and the man commanded the troops on the british side of bunker hill said afterwards basically crap because you won but what of the americans do they ran away for the next . That one cost 50 cast the next one, cost 50 casualties this is 1775 the very beginning of the war the guy has been to be commander in chief or most of the work so the war is unwinnable. And various others as they became commanderinchief they understood that all the americans had to do was hide behind those they were going to win the war with dirt basically more than gentiles. You much more vulnerable if youre out in the open field attacking a wooden fort like this one. They do not have 50 casualties. Heres my larger point which is almost over but he understood that the americans could win the revolutionary war if they basically just fell on the football, if they dont become aggressive. Washington just couldnt stand that. He was restless and rest. He had to be doing something. And you can take it to the next slide if you will. This is a map of the boston area many people watching her to the battle of the American Occupation Dorchester Heights. There is boston the pink part on the left at the time it was pretty much an island barely connected to the mainland toward the bottom of the map. Theres another peninsula to the south to the right on our map and that is Dorchester Heights washington did a great job of sneaking them up there to occupy Dorchester Heights on the night of march 4, 1776. That famous for chasing the british out and its seen as washingtons first victory chasing the british out of boston, guess what word washington used to describe the battle of occupying of Dorchester Heights he talked about his disappointment. Disappointment because he didnt want them to walk away from a fight, he wanted to fight them. What he was hoping, i asked everyone to follow me on the map, we will put our guys on Dorchester Heights, that threatens boston so the british troops are going to come try to take Dorchester Heights back from the american troops and while they are doing that, the american troops who are across the river, you see charleston more to the left is cambridge where you went to undergraduate school, he had thousands of americans troops over there waiting to row across the river and amphibious attacks. This with about washingtons heyday. Very ambitious and washington himself after the british had left saw just how impregnable the british defenses were. How much they built it up and how they barricade in every street from house to house streetfighting that even he pretty much admitted if he had carried out his aggressive plan it wouldve been a disaster. The main thing for me as he kept making aggressive plans. We ticket to new york city on the next one. Takes people allowed to get oriented but if you see the red stuff youre seeing the one part of Manhattan Island there was actually new york city in 1776, the british capture that city on september 15 and held it for the war and really turned it into fortress new york. Outside new york he never did. He never tried this assault because he learned how disastrous it would been had he gotten his brothers and had his chance to do and Amphibious Assault back in boston. So he would make these plans i think he was sincere about them but he would always find a reason to cancel them at the last minute and we as americans can be glad he did because had he done a disastrous assault that would have really hurt the american cause. The American Revolution is pretty freeing. As this revolution people are surprised the americans win but you make it seem like all the americans have to do is basically get out of their own way in the revolution would be run. And release and pathetic with washington he had Sydney Corner heroes monday morning quarterbacks i want to say, you can get this over with quickly. Is a very very proud guy thats part of the and slavery mentality is think of yourself as one of the big patriarchs to quote another slaveholder is very sensitive about the repetition. That was his real strength as he did and allow people to go him into doing something would have wouldve led to disaster. Dorchester heights he was ready to go into boston. The british disappointed him by leaving but he learned his lesson to his great credit. I do want to get back to the place of the incredible contributions of women during the American Revolution as students of Marybeth Norton it would be remiss not to talk more about and youve got some really aathe usual people we talk about during the American Revolution but you really talk about during this revolutionary Time Starting with this conflict that begins in what we know as the french indian war seven year war that there are groups of women going into and actually being killed i want you to talk a little bit more about that in the place of women in this narrative in this military history narrative as well. As you know unfortunately a ayou gotta look out for an article of hers under consideration about the women of the army and the amazing contributions they made and i will mention one thing to start because it was so stunning to me what a laundress does for army if you think hierarchically a laundress is pretty low in your hierarchy if youre that kind of thinker. Riley souther them persuaded me the number of guys on the american side got shot and died in the revolutionary war was about 7000, thats fewer than died in three days at gettysburg. But like all wars until world war ii the big numbers and passed world war ii the big big numbers are from disease. After George Washington famously had the men of his army inoculated against smallpox in 1777 the way my friend talks about, after smallpox was kind of off the table the big killer was typhus and typhus is spread by lice essentially lie some people shirts. If your washing clothes you are saving lives. To start with a seemingly menial task that has huge significance than you end up with women looking at this map of new york today there was in American Fork there and one of the defenders was a guy named corbin working a canon and he was cut down by enemy fire and his wife hannah took over and ran that battery for him. She was also injured but not killed she got a pension and riley and others including Marybeth Norton had found pensions by other women, a lot of women filed as widows but there was a lot also found pensions for their own so this. In light of the discovery there were these women who would file a pension application widows pension application but then when you read the narrative where they are describing why they deserve this application they talk about all the heroic things they did as well. This is such compelling stuff and i think the narratives that comes out of the everyday lives that, although in this sprawling history of this moment that we think we know is really compelling. I know we only have about seven minutes left but we do have an audience question and we have a request to talk about the qucbec act. Can you give us insight on that . You can take us back to the second image the big map with the native americans to help a little bit on the one hand its really important to say that there was no march to independence in the sense of an army marches and marches in lockstep because different colonies got mad at Different Things the british were doing at different times. They straggled out along the road new york to minute, long. Developed for independence on july 2. You wrote about it in the colonies was ready to be a state quite yet she stuff they did come along in time. Eventually. So on the one hand we want to notice what stragglers there were there were people out in front people are behind. On the other hand, there were a few things the british did that were truly unifying acts in the qucbec act was one of those because it affected just about all of the free colonists. It was seen as establishing the catholic faith and qucbec. From a moderate really have to admire the British Government for being willing to allow catholics and qucbec to continue worshiping because britain was very much a protestant country at the time catholics couldnt even vote. They didnt give catholics and qucbec the right to vote they did give them the right to basically tax themselves to pay for the church. Started all 26 colonies most of them there were church taxes and had to pay for the established church. So thats anglican or fiscal church in virginia and the Puritan Church in massachusetts and so forth. The big church that most of the colonists, not native american, although some americans, belong to them, there was the Catholic Church and the British Government tolerated that. It doesnt mean sexual purity it means purified our church of any catholic messages. The king decides the parliament decided that they would have an appointed counsel running things thats a very undemocratic thing its a very undemocratic was the only solution i could think of that makes overly mad because as jefferson said, there is and qucbec as a fit instrument. Sort of a model for what they want to do with the rest. With anything that will unify the colonist against the qucbec act 1774 was it took all the land basically the land thats shaded area west of the ohio river and gave it to qucbec. You cant name anybody in virginia who was a leader of the revolution jefferson washington franklin in pennsylvania. You cant name anybody who is a leader in the revolution who hasnt also a land speculator. That really cut the legs off of the land speculators. swere getting closer to the end i wanted to open it up i wanted to open it up for you for closing thoughts. When you go to the very maybe the second to the last slide or last light its got two images one is it sort of encompasses the whole thing. There both reflecting on something that general morgan from the american side we ended up winning at that but we also lost it early on. The reason he did poorly at the start was i back my militiamen up against the broad river because they were cowards and had i crossed the river they would all run away so i forced my men to fight while backing up against the broad river. Its also false because hes an undoctored photo you see the North Carolina South Carolina line and way north of that is the broad river also went over around it. The broad river is actually five miles away everybody who does maps of the battle makes it seem like the broad river was behind the general lines because thats what general morgan said. We can fix that with aerial photos in this case. I love how you can see how mapping now and then to make these types of questions about the 18th century, life. Thank you so much and this book is a compelling read i cant put it down. I highly encourage everyone to get liberty is sweet, the Hidden History of the american evolution really is wonderful, thank you so much for your time and breaking open this moment in history that is still so present for us in a way that its engaging and with a hi. My name is eric dolan. Im speaking to you from marblehead, massachusetts, which is my home. And i want to thank the National Archives for inviting me to give this talk on