S8 Ep587: 7. Joseph Ellis, *The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773 to 1783*. The entry of France and Spain transformed the rebellion into a global war, forcing Britain to prioritize its Caribbean sugar islands. Despite political pressure, Geor
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
7. Joseph Ellis, *The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773 to 1783*. The entry of France and Spain transformed the rebellion into a global war, forcing Britain to prioritize its Caribbean sugar islands. Despite political pressure, George III and George Germaineremained stubbornly committed to the war. Washington simultaneously faced internal threats, including the betrayal of Charles Lee, who shared secrets with the British while in captivity. On the frontier, Washington authorized a "dirty war" led by John Sullivan, which destroyed the Iroquois Confederation after they aligned with the British, who had incentivized them with "scalping knives" and payments for American scalps. (7)
1780
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| 0:22.4 | lincolntech.edu today for info and to schedule a campus tour. That's lincolntech.edu. |
| 0:32.9 | This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Batchel with Professor Joseph Ellis. |
| 0:39.7 | His new book is The Cause, the American Revolution and its discontents, 1773 to 1783. |
| 0:46.6 | Not just what happens on the battlefield, but how it's thought about before and after, what it means. |
| 0:51.4 | We now go to the summer of 1782. |
| 0:58.2 | John Jay, a man who I would want for my attorney in eternity. Good heavens, he is better. This man comes forward with a suggestion one |
| 1:05.1 | summer's evening in France chatting with the Spanish ambassador to France, Count Aranda, they're pausing over a map. |
| 1:16.0 | They're debating the future if and when Britain seeks to end the war. |
| 1:22.4 | They're looking at a map of the continent, what they have. |
| 1:25.7 | Count Aranda, and this is Spain. France gave up its |
| 1:29.6 | continental empire when it was defeated in the 1763. Spain, however, has a portion of it, |
| 1:38.0 | you will recall, a very large portion of it that will become critical for the expansion of the United States in the |
| 1:46.4 | 19th century. But right now, Karen Rand is looking at a line. He draws somewhere between Ohio |
| 1:51.8 | and the middle of Florida, Florida being a Spanish possession at the time. John Jay cleverly |
| 1:57.6 | leans forward and finds the Mississippi and points out the Mississippi. |
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