Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution

by Woody Holton

A “deeply researched and bracing retelling” (Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian) of the American Revolution, showing how the Founders were influenced by overlooked Americans—women, Native Americans, African Americans, and religious dissenters.

Using more than a thousand eyewitness records, Liberty Is Sweet is a “spirited account” (Gordon S. Wood, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution ) that explores countless connections between the Patriots of 1776 and other Americans whose passion for freedom often brought them into conflict with the Founding Fathers. “It is all one story,” prizewinning historian Woody Holton writes.

Holton describes the origins and crucial battles of the Revolution from Lexington and Concord to the British surrender at Yorktown, always focusing on marginalized Americans—enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, women, and dissenters—and on overlooked factors such as weather, North America’s unique geography, chance, misperception, attempts to manipulate public opinion, and (most of all) disease. Thousands of enslaved Americans exploited the chaos of war to obtain their own freedom, while others were given away as enlistment bounties to whites. Women provided material support for the troops, sewing clothes for soldiers and in some cases taking part in the fighting. Both sides courted native people and mimicked their tactics.

Liberty Is Sweet is a “must-read book for understanding the founding of our nation” (Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin ), from its origins on the frontiers and in the Atlantic ports to the creation of the Constitution. Offering surprises at every turn—for example, Holton makes a convincing case that Britain never had a chance of winning the war—this majestic history revivifies a story we thought we already knew.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American Revolution, American History, War, Politics, American Revolutionary War

800 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2021

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rendering of the American Revolutionary War history strives to also describe concurrent surrounding conditions and happenings that exerted influence on the directions taken. The areas covered include fates of women, enslaved people, Indigenous peoples, religious minorities, and internal social and economic conflicts. Also included are mentions of non-human factors such as weather, geography, and disease. The time covered is from the French Indian War to the adoption of the American Constitution.

Of course political and military activities are also covered and when combined with all the other narrative tracks mentioned above it makes for a long book. This book refers to these side stories as hidden histories because they are usually not considered to be influential on war history. This book suggests that all these stories interacted and they need to be recognized in order to understand the complete story.
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Below are excerpts from the book and my respective introductory comments:

The experience of the French Indian War taught England the lesson that fighting the Indians west of the Appalachia was expensive. One of the reasons for the Stamp Act was to pay for that defense, but when it was repealed it was concluded that the best way to lower costs was to keep the peace by keeping settlers out of Indian land. Thus they prohibited land claims by Colonist west of the mountains. This action had mixed results.

Once Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, its leaders reduced American expenses by evacuating all but the most vital western forts. Now it was simpler than ever to glide across the home government’s imaginary boundary.
Speculators were a different matter. Against them, the Proclamation of 1763, like the stamp duties that Parliament had tried to levy on legal documents, executed itself. Men like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry could not profit from trans-Appalachian land because they could not obtain title to it. In filtering out speculators while allowing actual settlers to flow on west, the Proclamation actually helped the so-called squatters, since no one could make them pay for their land. (To be sure, many settlers also dabbled in speculation.) (p.116)

The following is a comment of the accidental nature of the so-called “shot heard around the world” at Lexington and Concord.

Neither side had wanted war, but each had expected the other to attack, so the Whigs had struggled to stockpile ammunition, and Governor-General Gage had resolved to take it from them. This standoff, itself a kind of powder keg, was set off by multiple sparks, ranging from Dartmouth’s goading of Gen. Gage to an accidental of unsanctioned musket shot at Lexington and, in Concord, the militiamen’s reasonable but erroneous deduction about the smoke arising from their town. To deny the war’s inevitability, to say the two sides could have worked things out, is no mere hypothesis, for that was precisely how the redcoats’ expedition to Salem had concluded just two month earlier. (p.176)

More than once during the Revolutionary War the British tried to exploit the threat Colonists felt from their slaves. Dunmore's Proclamation of 1775 which promised freedom for slaves who left their owners and joined the royal forces. Colonists seemed to react by becoming more united in resentment of such an action.

Some Whig leaders affected to view Dunmore’s proclamation as cause for celebration, since it had “united every Man” in the white population against him. “The Proclamation from Lord Dunmore has had a most extensive good consequence,” Archibald Cary of Chesterfield County near Richmond wrote; white “Men of all ranks resent the pointed a dagger to their throats, thru the hands of their Slaves.” (p.203)

The Americans seem to have failed to appreciate the fact that even when they failed to win a battle that they were winning the war of attrition. The following quotation is taken from the discussion of the Battle of Guilford Court House.

But this latest British victory was widely described as Pyrrhic, and the same could be said for nearly all of the mother country’s triumphs in this distant war, since, win or lose, replacing the dead eroded popular support, the government’s financial prospects—and the ministry’s majorities in Parliament. The astonishing fact about the battle of Guilford Courthouse was that so few Whigs commented on how much it had helped their cause. Did they really not see that they were winning a war of attrition? Or did they fear the deliberately creating a quagmire would tarnish their honor? (p.438)

Most Americans today associate the Constitution with various rights such as freedom of speech, protection against unlawful search and seizure, gun rights, and freedom of religion. But none of those rights are mentioned in the original Constitution—they were added by amendment.

And that raises a question: if the framers did not travel to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to secure civil liberties, then why were they there?
The Constitution strengthened the United States government against its enemies, foreign and domestic, and it tamped down conflicts among states. But it was, above all, an economic document. It created a national market and enabled the federal government to use the threat of commercial retaliation to open British Caribbean ports to U.S. ships. But most popular accounts of the origins of the Constitution do not even mention the economic motivation that was foremost in the minds of the framers themselves. (p.529)

I learned of another massacre of native Americans from this book. I won’t take time to describe it here other than to provide the following link to the Wikipedia article for it.
Gnadenhutten massacre

The following is a link to an excerpt from this book:
https://www.delanceyplace.com/view-ar...

[Bronwyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This folly twists the Declaration of Independence and factual accounts of the early days of the Revolutionary War so that it is unrecognizable. The American Patriots were primarily farmers fighting against the greatest military machine in history. Now we are fighting against the modern revisionist machine trying to push a false and carefully crafted narrative. History is only valuable when we can learn from it - so let's look at it truthfully.

The founding fathers weren't perfect by any means, but they loved this country and we have much to be proud of in them and their heroic efforts. This is a despicable attempt to discredit these individuals who put their lives on the line to found this incredible Republic - the leader of the free world. The intent in this publication is exceedingly transparent - pushing the same divisive narrative we've witnessed over the past year and a half. Why no mention of John Adams and John Quincy Adams who abhorred slavery, never owned slaves and spoke out against that abomination? In fact, John Quincy came out of retirement at a very advanced age to represent the Africans who were stolen aboard the Spanish ship Amistad. In his brilliant and moving speech, he points to the Declaration of Independence on the wall, using its words to defend the souls. They were freed.

Do yourselves a favor - pick up an actual copy of the Declaration and the Constitution and read them. No brainwashing needed. God Bless America.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Battle of the Monongahela was the first major engagement of the world’s first global war.
An excellent concept: explore the American War of Independence in the broader context of time, persons and motives. Largely works, but often bogs down in reminders of that broadness. Readability suffers. The book would have benefited by a ten per cent reduction. His economic take is stale.
The crucial fact about the emerging conflict between colonies and crown—so often missed by the mythmakers—was that British officials, not American colonists, were the ones demanding change.
For example, rather than starting with the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Holton delves into the impact of earlier actions on both sides of the Atlantic, including the 1651 and following Navigation Acts which created the imbalance between the colonies and mother country. Slavery, of course, impacted motives on both sides also. Holton’s investigation of relations with the Native Americans adds a dimension usually ignored. As are the actions and opinions of females on all sides.
[Phillis] Wheatley was willing to concede the morality of chattel slavery in order to upend racial prejudice—a painful choice but also logical, if you believe, as she did, that racism was the root and slavery only its venomous stem, incapable of living without it.
Holton makes no secret of his disdain for American exceptionalism and for the idea that the founders were larger than like. In case the reader misses his message, he often interrupts the text to explain himself. Again. Freely inserts snide irrelevancies.
The “desperate valor” exhibited by the Rhode Island 1st Regiment as it repelled three waves of onrushing Hessians impressed observers in other units—and also surprised them, for two reasons. The first was that most of them had never seen battle before; the second was that they were Black.
Unfortunately for students of history, Holton is forced to retell the entire war in order to fit it into his framing narrative. But then he can’t assume modern readers know the chronology or major events. It allows him to re-spin everything.
[Carl von] Donop took a musket ball in the groin, was captured by the fort’s defenders, and succumbed seven days later, reportedly declaring, “I die the victim of my ambition and of the avarice of my sovereign.”
One group Holton ignores, other than as villains, are the conscripted Germans who fought and died in a country, a war, and for a king not their own.
By 1781, the British had helped the Indians assemble a confederacy powerful enough to survive even Britain’s betrayal the following year.
Adds depth to the background and evolution of independence, but if you plan to read only one history of the Revolution don’t make it this one.
The mythologization of the founding rebels has played out as a revolt against complexity. Flattering and flat celebrations of the Founders often proceed from a laudable desire to instill patriotism in the young (they also sell well), but they have always seemed more appropriate to authoritarian regimes, and they have slandered history by making it dull.

[Conor Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Liberty is Sweet” is a triumph and groundbreaking telling of the American Revolution. Rather than retreat into the traditional route of hero-worship or the more modern castigations of the founding fathers, Holton astutely forges a third path that renders them as complex individuals that were a part of a vast and inter-connected network of actors that included women, African Americans, and Native Americans.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holton has written one of the most definitive accounts of the Revolutionary War. He has included everyone in his tome, African Americans both free and enslaved, Native Americans or as the Canadians have authored First Nation People, Women, and poor whites. While certain figures get more print, Holton is not remiss to include those that made these figures as important as they became. His main thrust is that the Revolution was not caused by ideology but was economic in nature bolstering the old viewpoint that all politics are local. This places Holton in what I would call the new Progressive movement in history pitted against the ideologue visions of Bailyn, Wood, and Pocock. There is much to learn in this book and it is well written. Washington emerges as a contradictory character whose desire to secure western lands robbed others of their dreams. Yet, he could be magnanimous himself when he put an end to the Newburgh Conspiracy in 1783. His wartime exploits reveal him to be a student of military science who learned along the way that to win this war he must curtail his aggressive impulses and fight a defensive war. This book is long but important for all students of the era.

[Kirstin Dobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 5 from a historical nonfiction standpoint-- so well researched and just a magnificent amount of knowledge packed into less than 600 pages. All of the Revolutionary War explained here and so clearly. However, a 3 for an average reader-- very dense and heavy, so hard to read very quickly. Lightish for its audience and purpose, but not for me. Glad I read it, however. I learned so much and it's actully much less detailed than most even much longer or even volumned works on this topic. Thus, the compromise at 4. I'd honestly recommend it for the topic. Just plan to take it slow.

[Alexis Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looked interesting enough to read, and I was not disappointed. Hilton’s excellent historical narration about our nations tumultuous time period and what led to the revolution was very interesting to read. His book included women preachers (like Hutchinson) and indigenous agents and leaders who had a significant influence in how the events during the period unfolded. One major thing I also took away from this book is how closely connected different societies and cultures in the colonial era. Many events had almost all different kinds of groups participating in them. A nice new book for all American history buffs to read.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Revolution on the Margins

Holton's "Liberty is Sweet" bills itself as a "sweeping reassessment" and "our most complete account" of the American Revolution. It claims this by relying substantially on source materials/letters/accounts of traditionally underrepresented groups/players like women, slaves, Native Americans, etc.

While Holton does offer a fairly engaging chronological history of the runup to the war and revolution itself (the main narrative ends in 1783), the majority of these 'alternative' views feel only marginally important to the overall war effort. Outside of the main battles and troop movements, we're rarely dealing with decision makers. We have anecdote after anecdote of people in the orbit of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, etc, and Holton does an adequate job of showing how a decision *might* have been influenced slightly, but rarely are these decision points strategically or politically significant.

One of Holton's major examples is of a group of Colonial women who sought to start a patriotic association of sorts and approached Washington about supporting the soldiers. Rather than purchase supplies directly, Washington suggested they put their money into a local bank and use bank notes instead. The ladies objected and Washington relented. Then they agreed to sew a bunch of shirts. It's an interesting anecdote but feels....trivial.

There's a very "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" vibe to it as people too far removed from the "main characters" spend more time reacting to stimuli than prompting new decisions or strategies.

To be fair, this is a very enjoyable book and Holton weaves in his alternative sources well. His in depth looks into how each side sought to leverage slaves and/or Natives against the other side is compelling as are his examples of women occasionally becoming surreptitious combatants. While being a fine history with colorful asides, "Liberty is Sweet" is less than advertised.

[Chris McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not as radical as I thought it might be, but it was enjoyable. The bulk of the book was the story of the Revolutionary War, in detail. There were some different perspectives in that section, but more in the lead-up to the war and its aftermath. Holton discussed the economic forces that pushed the colonists towards separation, which was something that varied from the usual story. Throughout and especially after the war, he talked about the struggles of the Native American tribes as well as both enslaved and free blacks. That was the part of the book that was very different from other tellings of this story. It flowed well, was a fairly easy read despite its length. Solid book, worth reading.

[Susan Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complicated story of the American Revolution is much messier and multi-faceted, even contradictory, than you might have learned in school or via popular culture, this well-written history shows. That includes its leading figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others. Holton shows how the wealthy plantation owners (slave owners), ordinary farmers and craftsmen, enslaved and free Black people, and Native Americans, including women in all these categories, were significant players in this story. The definition of "liberty" was very different for different players. I learned a lot.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars This book looks at the Revolutionary War mainly through the eyes of women, Native Americans, and Blacks, groups often overlooked in most histories of the war. I think overall the author does a good job integrating these stories and challenging some of the misconceptions of the war. I was a little surprised there was not much coverage of the naval war, as free Blacks often served on Continental ships, but otherwise an interesting book.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good info. Some parts were a slog, but it fleshed out for me a lot of interesting info about relations with the Indians and other factors of motivation for the Rev War. Interesting parts about the currency.

[Bubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fills in the gaps of the American Revolutionary War and there’s lots of gaps

[Gretchen Hohmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit that, in the beginning, I rather wondered if this book had a point. I felt like it was rambling, and I really couldn't tell how it was different from any other retelling of the events of the American Revolution except for the tangent into fun trivia about women, African Americans, Native Americans, etc, at times. If you stick it out, the third and final section is quite strong, but to a point. It has a lot of interesting summary and evaluation in it, but that, too, seems to go on too long. Rather than a point, perhaps what this book is missing is another editing pass to make it sharper in exactly what it is hoping to convey. Again, it has an interesting and current conclusion, but if you want to read this then you have to be ready to devote some serious time to the middle section rather than a casual read.

[Bruce Gilpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revealing History of the Revolution

I think the last time I read a history of the American Revolution was decades ago when I was in college. The story I learned then was a much more one dimensional one then presented here. The only black person I knew to be involved in the revolution was Crispus Atticks in the Boston Massacre. The knowledge that thousands of blacks obtained their freedom by enlisting in the British army. Nor did I know that Abigail Adams was the owner of thousands of dollars of government bonds that she had purchased from Contential soldiers for a fraction of their face value. I thought that Native Americans were just bystanders to the revolution and not the active participants that they were. I learned a lot by reading this book.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended but I think best served if you have a better working knowledge of the revolutionary period. I do not and I found myself lacking in context at times. I think, too, that the author gets turned around in his sentence structure where the reading loses track of who is who and fighting for which army

However, I think the author properly assesses certain elements of this time period including the shadow that the institution of slavery cast during the actual war and even more so afterwards. Also, how enslaved and freedmen/women alike impacted early America. He also details the role of Native Americans in the war and then after tying their hopes to a British win, being left behind by everyone afterwards. A large part of the book is the role of African Americans, Native Americans and women in this new experiment.

The Founding Fathers believed all men are created equal… but some are created more equal than others.

I also enjoyed the take down of several myths or ideas. First that the patriots were more than willing to die for their cause. Well, as long as the money was right. Based on the number of troops that revolted over lost pay, switched sides or went home, these folks were far from the selfless fighters of independence. Also, I learned about the British’s attempt to send former slaves that had moved to Nova Scotia to a colony in Sierra Leone, which failed. I couldn’t help but think of the plans to relocate slaves to Haiti or South America or Africa 70 years later.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange book. Framed as “history from below,” much of it is actually a traditional battlefield narrative of the Revolutionary War, albeit one that presents a less flattering portrait of American independence than what you were probably taught in high school. Holton is at his best when he deviates from the military narrative and focuses on the individuals caught up in the whirlwind. Especially interesting are the accounts of black Americans (both free and enslaved), whose loyalties to the cause were just as divided as those of white Americans.

My problems with this book are mostly structural. It often feels thrown together and disjointed, with little room for analysis. Maybe this is supposed to reflect one of Holton’s main arguments — that the American Revolution was too contradictory, too multifaceted to lend itself to easy conclusions — but it still left me feeing like there gaps in the story he was telling.

[Peter Mayeux · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author examines the causes, the course and consequences of the American Revolution. The book covers the usual leaders that we know of for the new nation but also explores the lives of common men and women, those of diverse races and also those who did heroic actions to further the cause of the rebels.There are several maps of battlefields and locations. Unfortunately, they are not always synced with common entries on the locations and strategies that are discussed or illustrated in the book. The battlefield descriptions are very intense and detailed. The closing chapters in the book offer insightful perspectives on U.
S. priorities and prospects in the years just after the American Revolution.The chapter notes are very thorough and the bibliography is extensive.The author reveals the uncommon courage used by the Patriots in their clash of visions about equality and freedom.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of info and knowledge here, but it didn't quite come together for me. The whole thing read more like piles of information than a really coherent argument. It's a narrative of the Revolutionary era that tries to incorporate more about how more marginal groups were affected - slaves, Native Americans, women - so it's not just stories of the Founding Fathers. But, like I said, it just didn't quite come together into anything cohesive. And maybe it's just me, but some of what I've read about this era already incorporates those groups. OK, they're more incoporated here, but it's not some big breakthrough, just a slight shift. And it's a slight shift where the narrative isn't as strong.

I'll give Holton credit for knowing his stuff.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holton's work reveals in context the impact on the revolutionary period made by groups not previously fully considered by historians, thus the subtitle 'the hidden history of the American revolution'. There is much to learn by reading this book! The massive detail is a bit overwhelming at times and made this a long slog of a read (for me), but the information and insights gained made it enjoyable and a worthwhile commitment of time. I recommend it to those wishing to understand more completely the history of the American fight for independence and the participation in it by otherwise neglected groups.

[Marianne Villanueva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming clean: I cherry-picked the chapters. I wasn't interested in King George or Parliament, so I skipped over those sections.

Funny, I wasn't so interested in the later Washington, either. Or Jefferson. Or Madison.

I really, really wanted to learn about battles. About the Iroquois, the Shawnee, the Delawares, the Ojibwa, etc The early chapters were especially fascinating.

I also hoped to see women as less tangential in the narrative of the revolution. There were a few anecdotes here and there, nothing substantial. Women were really "fringe" I guess.

[Donald Leitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It seems clear for the founding generation, the American Revolution produced more misery than freedom."
"Many Americans brandish the Declaration (of Independence) as a trophy, but it owes its continuing relevance to those who take it as a challenge."
Dr. Woody Holton has written an accessible book that takes a fresh look at the events of the Revolution over approximately three decades. He writes about the battles of the war with clarity, but it is in his telling of the stories of indigenous peoples, African Americans and women during revolutionary times that this book shines brightest.

[Grindy Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not inclined to read much about the American Revolution. Much of the current literature is written by jingo hacks who learned all they need to know about 1776 from Schoolhouse Rock, or its revisionist twaddle written with a look at the 1770s with 21st century lenses. This is the exception - Woody Holton puts the years leading to the Revolution in proper perspective, while fairly taking into account the people in North America who were not white plantation owners or Yankee financiers. Very well done.

[Jakob Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where Holton does a good job explaining the narrative side of the American Revolution, I came out of the reading confused. Many chapters had titles that were barely referenced in the sections, and if they were mentioned, it was one page that was then moved on from. I really enjoyed the illustrations that showed battles, political cartoon type images, and maps. There was tons of really good information in regard to dates and people. However, the negative side of this is just the sheer amount of information presented. There was so much that I got stuck trying to fit everything together.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable. Not only does Woody Holton recount to histories of the most famous of the Founding
Fathers but personages unknown to me, heretofore. An excellent introduction to the American Revolutionary War, its causes and aftermath. Nor does Holton shy away from the underbelly of American history, it twin original sins of Black enslavement and mistreatment of Native Americans. If I taught a freshman college survey course on American history, this would be my textbook.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually liked this one. A good one volume overview of the war and the context of the times. It does a lot to dispel many myths, misconceptions about the conflict. Good on this work to look at more than just Washington and the main years of fighting. As a one volume work, tough to catch all aspects, but this is a worthy effort. Likely to reread this in the future, which may increase the rating (TBD).

[Mike Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, and insanely detailed, history of the Revolutionary war, in addition to the periods leading up to it and following it. While the book itself touts that it focuses on women, Native Americans, and blacks, I did not find this to be the case nor was the inclusion of these areas distractive or meaningless. I would not have categorized the book this way if the author had not stated such. Highly recommended for history and freedom buffs.

[June · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish the book. It rambled too much. There was too much minutiae. I lost track of what was happening and where. As someone who has read a lot on the start of the American Revolution, I wanted to like this book as the author does give a different perspective on events, but I get lost as to who, where and why things were happening.

[Seth Ascher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough and interesting recounting of the American Revolution, which is what I was looking for. The nature of the subject makes it hard to write about entertainingly, but the author certainly makes a good effort. Parts of it felt like a trudge, but I know more than I did before reading it and about both the usual heroes of the american revolution and some of its unsung heroes.

[Tom Rechtien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provided a much more nuanced description of the events leading up to the American Revolution. A leading influence was actually problems the East India Company had in India, resulting in large amounts of money being spent there, leading to Britain trying to find other sources of revenue. Highly recommended.