Summary of Joseph J. Ellis's Revolutionary Summer

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The American Revolution had begun by the spring of 1776, when British and American troops had been fighting each other for a full year. The Continental Congress maintained its loyalty to the British Crown, and George III did not know about the war. #2 The American Revolution was caused by the American colonies’ response to Parliament’s assumption of sovereignty. The British government should have exploited the gap between the military and political sides of the American Revolution by proposing some reconfiguration of the British Empire that gave the American colonies some control over their domestic affairs in return for a renewed expression of American loyalty to the king. #3 In 1774, the British government decided to impose martial law on Massachusetts after a tea party in Boston Harbor called the Tea Party. The British resoundingly imperial view of the American colonies was that Parliament had sovereignty over them, while the American view was that consent was the ultimate priority and sovereignty resided in multiple locations. #4 John Dickinson was the epitome of the moderate mentality within the Continental Congress. He believed that there must be some middle ground that preserved colonial rights but avoided American independence, which he regarded as a dangerous course.