The Revolution as it was not is.

To go along with the reading I listened to a lecture that focused on the reasoning behind the American Revolution and the myriad of reasons as to why it occurred and the reasoning behind the actions. Professor Freeman, of Yale University, begins her class lecture with the argument that the American Revolution was occurring before the war even began. She supports this statement with a quote by John Adams, "The Revolution was in the Minds of the people... before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington." She argues that the mindset the people held and everything that led them to believe that revolution and this change was justified is more important than the war itself. Ultimately, she claims that historic interpretations of what was occurring is more important than the dates and locations of battle. She says, " when we talk about the revolution we are talking about people... (we will be) looking at the revolution from the vantage point of participants." This lecture is focused on how her course will be taught over the semester, but she focuses throughout on the perspective of historic citizens and how facts aren't all that is necessary for history, but instead that perspective, occurrences, and what affected and changed the thoughts of the colonist are, perhaps, what is most important historically. It should be noted that our interpretation of history is not shared by those who endured it. To leave off with an example, it should be noted, that many colonists didn't refer to the war as a revolution, but instead, more often than not, it was referred to as a civil war. Clearly that sounds reasonable, but how many people actually thought about it or acknowledged it this way in our day and age? Is it still thought of as a civil war today? Food for thought. 

http://freevideolectures.com/Course/2877/The-American-Revolution-I