1776: Revolution, civil war and global conflict 

Aims

This course aims to give you:

• an understanding of the events and issues relating to the war for American independence in its British and global contexts
• an understanding of different views and interpretations of the conflict between Britain and its American colonies
• deeper insight into the global significance of the conflict between Great Britain and the United States

Course content

You may think you know about the War of American Independence: maybe you learned at school about tyrannical redcoats and patriotic colonists. If so, prepare to have your eyes opened.

This story started a long time before the Stamp Act and ‘No Taxation Without Representation’. It began in the conflicts in seventeenth-century England between the English Crown and the English Parliament. The transatlantic English drew very different lessons from that conflict: this was to prove fatal to their relationship.

Eighteenth century Britain was a military superpower which dominated the whole world. Its main challenge came not from the American colonies but from France. Modern Americans might think that arguments over taxation and tea were the most important issues of the day, but in London they seemed small stuff compared with the problems of India, unrest in Ireland and the threat from France. In any case, the issues of taxation were nothing like so clear-cut as seen from 1770s London as they might seem today: the supremacy of Parliament was sacred and had to be upheld. 

The war between Britain and America didn’t happen in isolation. At first it seemed a local rebellion which could be dealt with swiftly by a suitable display of force, but once France, Spain and the Netherlands joined in, this was a world war, fought in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, in India and Gibraltar, and even in the English Channel and on the English coast itself – as well as in America. The wonder is not that Britain lost, but that Britain held out so long.

I hope this course will give you a new perspective on a story you might have thought you knew well. Since America’s view of itself and its place in the world is so heavily shaped by the Revolution, it might even make you look with fresh eyes on its role in the modern world. 

What to expect on this course

I like to teach with plenty of visuals: when I was a student I was conscious that we never saw the things we were being taught about.  We’ll cover quite a lot of ground, but I always build time in for discussion and questions.  We’ll also consider some of the source material from the period to understand the issues from the point of view of people at the time.

Course sessions

1. Crown, Parliament and Colonies: The English colonies in America were closely tied into the religious and constitutional conflicts that raged in seventeenth-century England. How far did they reflect the rapidly-changing ideas of liberty and the rights of the Crown?

    

2. A Global Power: The new united state of Great Britain established the financial and military basis to establish its power on a global scale, challenged only by its old rival, France. America was central to this conflict and to Britain’s eventual triumph.

    

3. 1776: the Irreversible Breakdown: The speed with which an undercurrent of constitutional controversy between the colonies and Parliament escalated into open conflict caught London by surprise. How and why did the arguments lead to a definitive separation in the Declaration of Independence?

    

4. A Global War, 1775-1783: Britain’s immediate hopes and expectations that the conflict would be contained to New England were soon disappointed: the war with the Americans became a world war in which Britain stood alone against a hostile coalition and a union of unfriendly neutrals.

    

5. Peacemaking, 1783-1785: By 1783 Britain had lost the war for the American colonies but scored notable successes on other fronts. The peace treaties reflected this mixed result and sowed the seed for revolution in France, while Britain and the United States worked out their post-war relationship and power dynamic.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• understand the wider context of the conflict between Britain and America
• understand some of the very different views and interpretations of the conflict between Britain and its American colonies
• show knowledge of the major personalities, events and themes of the period and develop an appreciation of their lasting significance
• challenge common perceptions and assumptions about American independence and the conflict between Britain and its American colonies

Required reading

There is no required reading for this course. See Course materials for supplementary reading once registered.