Ill Literacy, Episode 46: The Cause (Guest: Joseph J. Ellis)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis to discuss his new book, The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783. They discuss how changes in British imperial policy lead to the war, how the war was incorrectly shaped, early on and by both sides, by beliefs about the militia the wariness many colonists felt toward the Continental Army, and the true political legacy of the war itself. They also chat about lesser-known heroes of the period, like John Dickinson, John Jay, Robert Morris, and Nathanael Greene.

Get the book here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631498985

Show Notes:

The Guardian: John S. Gardner – “The Cause: a history of the American revolution for our own troubled time”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/25/the-cause-american-revolution-joseph-ellis-history

New York Times: Richard Stengel – “Two of America’s Leading Historians Look at the Nation’s Founding Once Again — to Understand It in All Its Complexity”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/books/review/the-cause-joseph-j-ellis-power-liberty-gordon-s-wood.html

The Thomas Jefferson Hour: #1462 The Cause with Joseph Ellis (PODCAST)

https://jeffersonhour.com/blog/1462

U.S. National Archives: The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773–1783 (VIDEO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjaByAE6y4M

Washington Post: Hugh Hewitt – “This Fourth, recall the revolution of aspirations, contradictions and ongoing dilemmas”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/02/hewitt-joseph-ellis-the-cause-american-revolution/