Book Reviews – Emerging Revolutionary War Era

In an age where the names of Franklin, Jefferson, and Washington are household, the names of Wilkinson, Kemper, and Bowles seem to be consigned to the fringes of histories of the early American republic. With the formation of the fledgling United States of America, both the honorable and not-so-honorable helped shape the direction of expansion, and diplomacy, and reinforce societal values of the 18^th and early 19^th centuries. This collection of essays is akin to watching a true crime television documentary.

With a collection of essays, editors David Head and Timothy C. Hemmis, historians, and biographers provide snippets into the lives of these scoundrels of the early Republic. A few of the names are well known, including Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr, a few will conjure up memories from the fringes of other histories, such as James Wilkinson, whereas others have escaped the main avenues of historical exploration. Throughout the various essays, “this collection seeks to reexamine the Founding generation” to “replace the hagiography of the Founding Fathers with something more realistic” (pg. xx).

First, an examination of the word “scoundrel” is needed. According to usage at the time and the 1755 dictionary of Samuel Johnson’s authoring, that word meant “a mean rascal; a low petty villain” (pg. xiii). Through 12 individuals, the various authors explain how each earned the moniker “scoundrel” and how that affected the development of the United States. Especially interesting was the role of various individuals in Western expansion and the domino effect on international diplomacy. Individuals such as Aaron Burr and James Wilkinson are better known but Philip Nolan and Thomas Green are not so much.

Others, such as Benedict Arnold and Charles Lee get a fresh look from two great Revolutionary-era historians, James Kirby Martin and Mark Edward Lender. Included in those discussed, William Augustus Bowles and Diego de Gardeoqui show how international actors played prominent roles in providing heartburn to the national government. One theme, the west and south of the original thirteen states provided the arena for scheming, opportunity, and risk.

In conclusion, the editors examine three main reasons a study like this is important, that the “unintended result of the American Revolution” was “many men decided they had their own ideas about what was important” (pg. 266). Secondly, the “vital importance of the American West as a zone of territorial expansion, economic opportunity, and foreign intrigue” and lastly simply “early America was…a time and place for scoundrels…” (pgs. 267-268).

Overall this essay-comprised book is a fun, fresh read that looks at those scoundrels that sought an opportunity to change the landscape of the early American republic and potentially change the course of United States history. Who does not like to read about plots, scheming, and resultant escapades?

Publisher: Pegasus Books, December 2023

368 pages, including images

During the second half of the 18^th century, the Forks of the Ohio, where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers come together to form the Ohio River, were a vortex of conflict that dramatically influenced the course of events in North America and the unfolding of a young United States. In his latest book, The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis, historian Brady J. Crytzer adds to his already substantial body of work exploring the critical role the region played in American history. It is a must read.

In 1791, Congress passed a whiskey tax to raise revenue and pay off war debts. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, whose brainchild the whiskey tax was, designed the tax to help consolidate capital for investment in the country’s infrastructure. Small farmers, who constituted the bulk of distillers on the frontier, rebelled. Their resentment of the tax was not driven merely by its existence, but also by its structure, which they argued discriminated against small farmers. They had a point. Whiskey, not just as commodity, was a medium of exchange because hard currency was scarce on the frontier. Thus, in some ways, the whiskey tax resembled the stamp tax; one had to pay it to engage in normal commerce. The tax could be levied both on stills and the amount of whiskey each distiller produced. Large enterprises who ran their stills year-round could pay the tax. Small farmers, however, primarily ran their stills for brief periods in order to convert grain crops to more readily transportable whiskey. Moreover, the tax had to be paid in cash, which was scarce on the frontier. As a result, the tax was regressive and more difficult for smaller farmer to pay than for large the large distillers.

Rebellion was in some ways the predictable outcome. By 1791, the frontier was populated by people with a tradition of resisting governments they believed were run for the benefit of others. Whether those elites were in far-off London or distant Philadelphia was immaterial. Pittsburgh might be a federalist outpost as a frontier center for exercising the authority of the newly-established United States government, but the more populous surrounding countryside was dominated by small farmers and small communities. They responded much in the same way Americans had before the Revolution: community meetings and remonstrances, isolated attacks on officials, intimidation of those cooperating with distant governments, destruction of property, the creation of new political institutions, and the old stand-by: tarring and feathering. Events culminated in a two-day battle for General John Neville’s home and a large muster of rebels at the site of British Major General Edward Braddock’s defeat on the Monongahela River.

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Emerging Revolutionary War Era

Tag: Book Reviews

Book Review: “A Republic of Scoundrels” edited by David Head & Timothy C. Hemmis

Book Review: The Whiskey Rebellion: A Distilled History of an American Crisis (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2023)