The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America

Written by T. H. Breen

Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon

Over eight years of war, ordinary Americans accomplished something extraordinary. Far from the actions of the Continental Congress and the Continental Army, they took responsibility for the course of the revolution. They policed their neighbors, sent troops and weapons to distant strangers committed to the same cause, and identified friends and traitors. By taking up the reins of power but also setting its limits, they ensured America's success. Without their participation there would have been no victory over Great Britain, no independence. The colonial rebellion would have ended like so many others-in failure.

The driving force behind the creation of a country based on the will of the people, T. H. Breen shows, was in fact the people itself. In villages, towns, and cities from Georgia to New Hampshire, Americans managed local affairs, negotiated shared sacrifice, and participated in a political system in which each believed they were as good as any other. Presenting hundreds of stories, Breen captures the powerful sense of equality and responsibility resulting from this process of self-determination.

With striking originality, Breen restores these missing Americans to our founding and shows why doing so is essential for understanding why our revolution ended differently from others that have shaped the modern world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Dec 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781541415706

T. H. Breen

T. H. Breen is the William Smith Mason Professor of American History at Northwestern University. The author of several works of history, including The Marketplace of Revolution and American Insurgents, American Patriots, Breen has also written for The New York Times Magazine, the London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, and The New York Times Book Review. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.