Episode 280: Rick Atkinson, The British Are Coming

by Liz CovartAugust 11, 2020

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The American Revolution is embedded in the American character. It’s an event that can tell us who we are, how we came to be who we are, and how we can strive to be who we want to be as a nation and people.

Rick Atkinson, a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a journalist who has worked at The Washington Post, and the author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, joins us to explore how the War for Independence has impacted and shaped the American character.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Rick Atkinson, a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a journalist who has worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, and senior editor at The Washington Post, and the author of The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777, joins us to explore how the War for Independence has impacted and shaped the American character.

During our exploration, Rick reveals why it’s important for us to view the American Revolution through both British and American perspectives; The scarcity the American and British armies experienced during the war; And, the violence and devastation wrought by the War for Independence and what that violence and devastation can tell us about the American character.

What You’ll Discover

The title of Rick’s book, The British Are Coming
The Georgian Papers Programme
King George III and his papers
How knowing King George III changes how we view the Revolution
Seeing the American Revolution through both British and American perspectives
The American Revolution as a civil war
The violence of the Revolution
Scarcity of materials during the War for Independence
Devastation in the War for Independence
Battle of Bunker Hill
Benjamin and William Franklin
How officers kept soldiers in the fight
The Turtle
War and technology
The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, 1776-1777
What Rick wants us to know about the American Revolution

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the British Army had been better supplied? How would the War for American Independence have been different If the British Army had had all the supplies it needed to wage war?