S8 Ep587: 3. Joseph Ellis, *The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773 to 1783*. This narrative explores the tension between conservative and radical leadership, featuring John Dickinson, whose "Letters from a Farmer" framed the colonial constitut
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
3. Joseph Ellis, *The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773 to 1783*. This narrative explores the tension between conservative and radical leadership, featuring John Dickinson, whose "Letters from a Farmer" framed the colonial constitutional position even as he hesitated to cross the "abyss" into war. Conversely, John Adams viewed continued trust in George III as "delusional" and advocated for an immediate end to the British connection. The text also critiques the "myth of the militia," noting that while amateurs were formidable behind defenses at Bunker Hill, their costly "victory" misled many into believing virtuous amateurs could easily defeat professional soldiers, a delusion that persisted for years. (3)
1820 JEFFERSON FRANKLIN
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Batchel with Professor Joseph Ellis. The new book is The Cause. |
| 0:11.0 | And this is a view of the war fast forward because the people participating in this war are thinking about it all the time. |
| 0:17.9 | They don't even see it as a war. It's seen as a rebellion in London. |
| 0:21.5 | It's seen as the cause in Boston. However, other cities, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, |
| 0:28.2 | have different opinions and we'll touch upon them as we go forward. There is a battle, though, |
| 0:33.2 | that will determine everybody's early thinking. That's Bunker Hill, where the British are badly beaten up, |
| 0:39.8 | though they win the day by driving off the militia. |
| 0:44.6 | Now comes George Washington to take command, |
| 0:47.0 | and he wants, he sees, his vision is for an army, a disciplined army. |
| 0:53.9 | The British make a decision to withdraw from Boston as guns, |
| 0:58.3 | as cannon arrive that they've founded Fort Ticonderoga and hauled over the mountains. The commander |
| 1:05.4 | understands that he must leave how the William Howe of the Howe brothers remains behind and he is ordered or |
| 1:14.3 | the decision is made by London. George Germain is now Secretary of State for the colonies to move |
| 1:21.8 | to New York. In moving to New York, Washington has an opportunity at some point, at some point to move to New York as well, to hold New York. |
| 1:32.1 | So the expectation now is that there's going to be a battle. |
| 1:36.0 | Professor, here is the wonderful insight that I gained from your book. |
| 1:40.4 | New York becomes the battlefield for the payoff for both the Howe brothers and George Washington. |
| 1:49.5 | More interesting to me is George Washington. Before the Howes arrived back with a fleet to dominate |
| 1:55.7 | the story, why does George Washington believe New York is important? Why does he move his forces from Boston, |
| 2:03.3 | where they're quite secure, to Long Island? He moves it because he knows, and the American |
| 2:09.7 | Congress knows that that's the place the British are going to focus on an attack. They know |
| 2:16.0 | there's a British strategy to take New York, whose Carver is |
... |
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