Historian To Speak At Library –

The Revolution Was Also An Economic Battle

By Jan Howard

Renowned author and historian Richard Buel will talk about the American economy during the Revolutionary War in a program on September 12 at 7:30 pm at the C.H. Booth Library on Main Street.

The talk, entitled “Cows, Corn, and Cuba: Critical Factors in the Winning of American Independence,” will feature his newly published book, In Irons: Britain’s Naval Supremacy and the American Revolutionary Economy.

“It draws attention to the economic dimensions of the Revolutionary War that have not figured in previous accounts,” Mr Buel said of the title of his talk.

Mr Buel, a resident of Essex, teaches Early American history through the Civil War period at Wesleyan University in Middletown. He has previously written three books.

The book addresses for the first time the impact of naval warfare on the agricultural sector of the American economy as the British Navy denied Americans access to overseas markets. Major trade disruptions because of British naval superiority brought the 13 colonies to the brink of economic collapse.

While researching Revolutionary history, Mr Buel said he realized that no one had addressed the economic history of the time. In his book, he shows how the French alliance, naval operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean, military operations in North America, and policies of state and continental authorities contributed to the collapse and then revival of the revolutionary economy.

“It is a subject that professional historians have not addressed,” Mr Buel said. “Economic historians don’t have access to a coherent record of the Revolutionary period. People of that time were not used to keeping statistics, and what was kept was probably destroyed. There was no continuity.”

Mr Buel explained there was no central government, only 13 individual colonies, so there were no common standards for keeping records.

 “It was not a cheerful topic. It turned out it was comparable to the Great Depression. The colonies were dependent on outside sources of redemption, France and Spain,” he said.

While France sent an expeditionary force in 1778, they bankrupted the colonies, Mr Buel said, because the colonies resorted to irresponsible practices to try to produce a victory in 1778 that didn’t happen. “They emptied the coffers,” he said.

Mr Buel will discuss how France and Spain helped bolster the economic survival of the 13 colonies. However, he said France’s help, including the battle of Yorktown, was not as decisive as what Spain achieved for the colonies. He termed Spain’s involvement “an enormous lucrative opportunity,” which will be discussed in his talk.

“The implication always has been that the Revolution was an illustrious, glorious struggle, but we didn’t win it by ourselves,” he said.

In Irons took over a decade and a half to write. Mr Buel gave his first preliminary paper on the subject in 1983. In 1985/86 he received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts that supported his research in the United States and Europe.

The death of his wife brought about a hiatus of five years. In 1992, he again picked up his work and saw it to fruition in 1997.

What he discovered during his research was that there was no archive on the Revolutionary economy. He had to ferret it out, he said. “It was all over the map. Nothing made sense.”

The research, he noted, took a lot of time. Writing of the book progressed as he researched information in various areas of this country, such as the University of Michigan library, Chicago Historical Society, Wisconsin State Historical Society, Library of Congress, and other sources, and British and French archives.

“I had to look at everything as much as possible,” he said.

The difference between the economy of the Revolutionary period and that of today is that the colonies were very dependent on foreign markets, he said. That’s very different from being a great superpower that others look to for help, he added. “It’s a very different world today.”

Reviewers speak of In Irons as being a groundbreaker in its perspective as well as very readable.

The book may have more appeal for serious students of economics, Mr Buel said. However, he added, “It can be read and appreciated by the average reader. It is an economic history of the Revolution, with the economy collapsing with the beginning of the war. Short of a quick victory, it took time and assistance by other countries to win.”

The program on the Revolutionary War economy is free, and will take place in the meeting room of the library. A book signing will take place at the conclusion of Mr Buel’s talk, and refreshments will be served.