Independence Day America 250

America 250 is upon us, and with it, a great time to increase our knowledge of the events, personalities, and philosophies of theAmerican Revolution. Pick your topic. For histories on the causes and outcomes of the American Revolution, The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman and The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America by Colin G. Calloway are worth your time. For biographies and political events, read anything by David McCullough (1776; John Adams), Joseph Ellis(Founding Brothers: the Revolutionary Generation;Revolutionary Summer: the birth of American independence), Ron Chernow (Alexander Hamilton and Washington: a life), and H.W. Brands (Our first civil war : patriots and loyalists in the American Revolution, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics). Ken Burns has a directed a highly anticipated documentary, The American Revolution. Also, the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda Hamilton: the revolution was given rave reviews.

For political and philosophical history on the Revolution,  try American Scripture: Making the Declaration ofIndependence by Pauline Maier, Common Sense by Thomas Paine; The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton et al;

The cause: the American Revolution and its discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph Ellis; Rage and the republic: the unfinished story of the American revolution by Jonathan Turley and  First principles: what America's founders learned from the Greeks and Romans and how that shaped our country by Thomas E. Ricks; and The revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff.​

The military campaigns are fascinating. There were many battles fought in the eight years of conflict. Consider Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick, George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger,Partisans & Redcoats: the Southern Conflict that turned the tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar.

One of the best books that I have ever read is The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas by John Buchanan. Well-respected author Rick Atkinson has written The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (The Revolution Trilogy, 1) and The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 (Revolution Trilogy, 2). For South Carolina history buffs, try The Life of General Francis Marion: A Celebrated Partisan Officer, in the Revolutionary War, Against the British and Tories in South Carolina and Georgia by M.L. Weems and Colonel William Harden: South Carolina's unheralded partisan command by Dik Daso.

Continue your educational journey with books on the American Revolution and its impact on Native Americans, African Americans, and Women. Slavery was a huge issue. Consider the following: Native Americans in the American Revolution: How the War Divided, Devastated, and Transformed the Early American Indian World by Ethan Schmidt; Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings: The Slaves, the British, and the American Revolution; Alfred Blumrosen’s Slave Nation: How Slavery United the Colonies and Sparked the American Revolution; The odyssey of Phillis Wheatley : a poet's journeys through American slavery and independence by David Waldstreicher; Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts; and Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence by Carol Berkin.

For historical fiction lovers, try the following: Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara; Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell; My dear Hamilton: a novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by StephanieDray; and A girl called Samson by Amy Harmon; Washington and Caesar by Christian Cameron.