20 Myths About The American Revolution We’ve All Been Foolishly Confusing As Facts

Even if your history classes are no more than a dim and distant memory, there’s probably quite a lot that you think you know about America’s Revolutionary War. But just how many “facts” about the conflict should actually be filed in a drawer marked “myths”? The answer is a surprisingly large number. Read on as we disentangle the facts and fictions of the epic conflict that led to the founding of the United States of America.

20. Crippling taxes caused the American Revolution

It’s certainly true that the authorities had introduced new taxes, most notoriously on that most British of commodities: tea. But the tax story’s actually more complicated. For example, in 1764 a Sugar Act slashed the tax on molasses by 50 percent. But the legislation was still unpopular because it also included other measures.

The fact was that the American colonists had often dealt with British taxes in a time-honored way. They simply bypassed them by smuggling goods and therefore paying zero duty. But the colonists didn’t take kindly to the idea that this habit might be curtailed. Worse, tax-evaders were now to be tried by a court sitting with no jury and presided over by Royal Navy personnel. Previously courts had operated with local juries and judges who tended to take a fairly relaxed view of the law.

19. Patriotic Americans unanimously rose up against the British

It’s easy to think that in 1775 the good folks of the 13 rebellious colonies rose up as one to cast off the intolerable yoke of British imperialism. Easy, but completely wrong. True, there was a burst of enthusiasm at the start of the war. A force of more than 15,000 New England colonists rushed to besiege the British Army base at Boston.

When the fighting dragged on, though, the realities of armed combat against well-disciplined and highly trained British troops became apparent. Some now thought it politic to stay in their farms and homesteads rather than face the dangers of war. In an article published in 2010, the Smithsonian magazine quoted George Washington’s words. He lamented that “compleating the army by Voluntary Inlistments” was an uphill task.