03e: Conclusions

1. Out of Many, One
Given the diversity of the thirteen colonies' governments, and the diversity of their people, the creation of the United States was miraculous. The northern and southern colonies were almost separate countries in their attitudes, and not everyone in the colonies sided with the Continentals. Great Britain's universally shoddy treatment of the colonists after the French and Indian War helped to unify the colonies, as did the wise leadership of the delegates each colony sent to the Continental Congress. But perhaps there was also a sort of will to self-rule born into those who made the decision to come to the New World; in their sons and daughters who were born in the Colonies it became an American will to self-rule.

2. The Sons of Liberty
The colonial movement called the Sons of Liberty wouldn't qualify as terrorists today. Springing up in Boston and New York to protest the 1765 Stamp Act, they caused more nuisance than they did physical harm. The British would no doubt beg to differ. The Sons of Liberty specialized in vandalism and "tarring and feathering" British loyalists, although as the movement spread through the colonies, more violence sometimes ensued. Even after the Stamp Act's repeal, the movement remained as a network for those who wished to end British control over the colonies. Leading members of the Sons of Liberty went on to further premeditated offenses against Britain: one was Samuel Adams, mastermind of the Boston Tea Party. Whether they were truly terrorists or not depends on one's point of view. But they were certainly effective.

3. Thank you, France!
Had it not been for French assistance, it's likely the American Revolution would have failed. Individual Frenchmen such as the Marquis de La Fayette had supported the Americans from the start, but in 1778 King Louis XVI of France made French support official.  Not that he was acting out of altruism. Had he known the guillotine was 15 years in his future, he may not have acted at all. But in politics, the enemy of your enemy is automatically your friend - and like any good French king, Louis XVI hated Great Britain. France had nothing to show after the 1783 Treaty of Paris except for a pile of debt which would also contribute toward the French Revolution six years later. In fact, in 1799 the United States would eventually back out of its mutual defense treaty with France because France was so outgunned by its enemies.

4. Our First President
Had the British been a little smarter and a little less conceited, they might have avoided the American Revolution entirely. They might have learned from the Roman Empire's experience that foreign born Romans were a source of desperately needed fresh blood. Instead, they were fixated on denying American-born Englishmen a place in British public life. George Washington's greatest goal in life was a commission as an officer in the British Army; his service in the French and Indian War certainly proved him worthy. Instead, Washington's status, experience, and personal charisma earned him command of the Continental Army and ultimately made him our first President. George Washington was not the deepest thinker among America's Founders, nor was he a very skillful general or a dazzling orator. Yet he was more than the sum of his separate parts, and Americans looked naturally to him in times of crisis. In the end he invariably came through. It is a shame Americans today - myself included - do not appreciate our first President more.