Lars D. H. Hedbor will be the Special Guest on Versus History Podcast #30. The blog post below is by Lars himself, in advance of the release of his new book. Our image of the American Revolution is too often reduced to a caricature of white men in powdered wigs prancing about the countryside, quoting Jefferson and Paine in between picturesque set-piece battles with the vile Redcoats. Exploding that myth, my new historical novel The Freedman: Tales From a Revolution - North Carolina reveals the previously untold story of how former slaves made themselves indispensable to the success of the Revolution in North Carolina. The Freedman tells the story of Calabar, brought from Africa to North-Carolina as a boy and sold on the docks as chattel property to a plantation owner. Abruptly released from bondage, he must find his way in a society that has no place for him, but which is itself struggling with the threat of British domination. Reeling from personal griefs, and drawn into the chaos of the Revolution, Calabar knows that one wrong move could cost him his freedom—or even that of the nation. I was inspired to write The Freedman when I came across a news report about the former mayor of Greenville, North Carolina, who discovered that his African-American ancestors had actually fought on the patriot side. I immediately felt compelled to discover what that experience had been like. The more I learned, the more I knew that I had to tell the story of their vital contributions to the independence and liberty of a society that barely even tolerated their presence. My first novel, The Prize, was published in 2011, followed by The Light in 2013, and The Smoke, The Declaration, and The Break in 2014; The Wind was published in 2015, The Darkness in 2016, and The Path in 2017. Each book is a standalone novel, looking at the experience of the American Revolution from a different colony – including some usually ignored for having the poor judgment of not being part of the original thirteen.
I have also written extensively about this era for the Journal of the American Revolution, and appeared as a featured guest on the Emmy-nominated Discovery Network program The American Revolution, which premiered nationally on the American Heroes Channel in late 2014. I also appeared as a series expert on America: Fact vs. Fiction for Discovery Networks, and was a panelist at the Historical Novel Society’s 2017 North American Conference. The Freedman was released by Brief Candle Press on May 31st, 2018, and will retail for $12.99/€12.99/£9.99 in paperback through all online booksellers, and for $5.99/€5.99/£4.99 in electronic book format, through all major ebook providers. For links to all of my books, visit my Web site at http://larsdhhedbor.com/. Follow me on Twitter @LarsDHHedbor for daily tweets about #TodayInHistory in the #RevWar, and see my page on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Lars.D.H.Hedbor/ to learn about the latest news about my work.
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The Broadway musical ‘Hamilton’ has been an absolute smash hit, both in America and London. Even if one is not familiar with the historical context of the production, they may well have heard one of the catchy songs from the musical itself. Tickets for Hamilton are certainly not cheap - demand for seats has far exceeded supply! Along with appearances from the 'Founding Father' Alexander Hamilton, the production features three comical songs from the British King George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1820, directed at his troublesome and revolutionary colonial subjects on the other side of the Atlantic.
For many, this may well be the first time they have encountered George III as a historical actor. King George III did indeed support the raft of Parliamentary legislation aimed at bringing the American colonists to heel, notably under his Prime Minister Lord North in the turbulent 1770s. In this period, the Boston Massacre, the Tea Act, the Boston Tea Party and the ‘Coercive Acts’ heightened tensions and galvanised the wrath of American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies towards British rule. Moreover, Thomas Paine labelled George III as the ‘royal brute’ in his 1776 pamphlet ‘Common Sense’, while the Declaration of Independence of the same year accused George of trying to establish an ‘absolute tyranny’ in British America. All in all, a pretty damning critique! The validity of these claims is, of course, subject to debate. The musical Hamilton has certainly brought these issues back to the forefront of public and historical consciousness. But, there was more to King George III than America and tyranny. George III was the first of the Georgian monarchs to style himself as a proud British - as opposed to a Hanoverian - King. English was his first language, not German, unlike George I and II. Indeed, George III never even visited his throne in Hanover. He took a great interest in the art of Kingship, writing numerous essays on the topic as an adolescent. George had a particular penchant for farming and a keen interest in the system of enclosure that was engulfing England at the time - hence his nickname 'Farmer George'. In 1769, George's thirst for knowledge resulted in him building the Royal Observatory in Richmond, in which he took great pleasure. George was - by all accounts - committed to his large family and his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who lent her name to Charlotte, North Carolina (which, incidentally, Lord Cornwallis identified as a ‘hornets’ nest of rebellion’ during the American Revolution). George III may have been the last King of America, but he was also the first King of Australia, reigning over his Kingdom during a time of vast social, economic and industrial change. Few would doubt that George was a ‘hands-on’ sovereign, taking great pride and an intense interest in the ruling of his realm. He is Britain’s third longest-reigning monarch, behind Victoria and Elizabeth II. He was, perhaps, the last British sovereign to exercise bona fide executive power. His son, the Prince Regent and subsequently King George IV from 1820 to 1830, was certainly a great deal less popular with the British people than his father had been. Mental illness incapacitated George III for the last years of his life - a fact which is directly referenced in the songs by George III in Hamilton the musical. Hopefully, the musical itself will serve to inspire those interested in the production and historians to learn more about the ‘Mad King’. There was - whatever your opinion on King George III - certainly more to him and his reign than America and mental illness. I would love to hear your thoughts! Patrick O’Shaughnessy (@historychappy) Co-Editor of Versus History |
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