George C. Daughan's magnificently detailed account of the Battle of
Lexington and Concord challenges the prevailing narrative of the
American War of Independence. It was, Daughan argues, based as much in
economic concerns as political ones. When Massachusetts militiamen
turned out in overwhelming numbers to fight the British, they believed
they were fighting for their farms and livelihoods, as well as for
liberty.
Benjamin Franklin was not surprised by this widespread belief. In the
years prior to the Revolution, Franklin had toured Great Britain and
witnessed the wretched living conditions of the king's subjects. They
wore rags for clothes, went barefoot, and had little to eat. They were
not citizens, but serfs. Franklin described the appalling situation in a
number of letters home. In the eyes of many American colonists,
Britain's repressive measures were not seen simply as an effort to
reestablish political control of the colonies, but also as a means to
reduce the prosperous colonists themselves to the serfdom described in
the Franklin letters.
Another key factor in the outcome of this historic battle, according to
Daughan, was the scorn British officers had for colonial fighters.
Although the British officers had fought alongside colonial Americans in
the ferocious French and Indian War, they failed to anticipate the
skill, organization, and sheer numbers of the colonial militias. Daughan
explains how British arrogance led them to defeat at the hands of
motivated, experienced patriot fighters determined to protect their way
of life.
Authoritative and immersive, Lexington and Concord gives us a new
understanding of a battle that became a template for colonial uprisings
in later centuries.
