Roots of Conflict: British Armed Forces and Colonial Americans, 1677-1763

This lively book recounts the story of the antagonism between the American colonists and the British armed forces prior to the Revolution. Douglas Leach reveals certain Anglo-American attitudes and stereotypes that evolved before 1763 and became an important factor leading to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Using research from both England and the United States, Leach provides a comprehensive study of this complex historical relationship. British professional armed forces first were stationed in significant numbers in the colonies during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. During early clashes in Virginia in the 1670s and in Boston and New York in the late 1680s, the colonists began to perceive the British standing army as a repressive force. The colonists rarely identified with the British military and naval personnel and often came to dislike them as individuals and groups. Not suprisingly, these hostile feelings were reciprocated by the British soldiers, who viewed the colonists as people who had failed to succeed at home and had chosen a crude existence in the wilderness. These attitudes hardened, and by the mid-eighteenth century an atmosphere of distrust and suspicion prevailed on both sides. With the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754, greater numbers of British regulars came to America. Reaching uprecedented levels, the increased contact intensified the British military's difficulty in finding shelter and acquiring needed supplies and troops from the colonists. Aristocratic British officers considered the provincial officers crude amateurs -- incompetent, ineffective, and undisciplined -- leading slovenly, unreliable troops. Colonists, in general, hindered the British military by profiteering whenever possible, denouncing taxation for military purposes, and undermining recruiting efforts. Leach shows that these attitudes, formed over decades of tension-breeding contact, are an important development leading up to the American Revolution.

History

Leach, Douglas Edward

Americas

The University of North Carolina Press

From Publishers Weekly Leach, history professor emeritus at Vanderbilt, served as an antisubmarine officer aboard a Navy destroyer for some 90 weeks during World War II. Although the "Lucky Elden" steamed more than 100,000 miles in two oceans, earning five battle stars, the crew never saw an enemy ship or plane and was never damaged by enemy fire. While not a chronicle of warfare in the strictest sense, this memoir is nonetheless a worthy addition to naval literature of the war, for the author, then a modest, God-fearing young man from Rhode Island, was fascinated by the ship's routine, its crew and naval customs, all of which are described interestingly. The book also contains scenes reminiscent of Mister Roberts: the captain's drunken search for contraband liquor; the desperate attempts by another captain to please a not-to-be-pleased commodore; a case of mistaken identity in which the author was assumed to have fathered a child by a woman he never met. Photos. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Now Hear This: The Memoir of a Junior Naval Officer in the Great Pacific War

Kent State Univ Pr

“Marked by scrupulous and wide-ranging research, it is not only good history but good narrative as well.” ―Robert J. Taylor, American Historical Review This classic account of King Philip’s War, first published in 1958, offers a bird’s-eye view of the conflict, from the Wampanoag sachem’s rise to his ultimate defeat. The battles, massacres, stratagems, and logistics of this war are all detailed, with the leaders of both sides figuring prominently in this tale of bloodshed, privation, and woe. The author weighs all the factors contributing to the Native Americans’ defeat and surveys the effects of the war on the lives of both Indians and colonists in the years to come. With insight, balance, and compassion, Leach portrays the tragedy of the war and points toward the future of the nascent American republic.

Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War

Countryman Press

âMarked by scrupulous and wide-ranging research, it is not only good history but good narrative as well.â âRobert J. Taylor, American Historical ReviewThis classic account of King Philipâs War, first published in 1958, offers a birdâs-eye view of the conflict, from the Wampanoag sachemâs rise to his ultimate defeat. The battles, massacres, stratagems, and logistics of this war are all detailed, with the leaders of both sides figuring prominently in this tale of bloodshed, privation, and woe. The author weighs all the factors contributing to the Native Americansâ defeat and surveys the effects of the war on the lives of both Indians and colonists in the years to come. With insight, balance, and compassion, Leach portrays the tragedy of the war and points toward the future of the nascent American republic.

Parnassus

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Books by Leach, Douglas Edward

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Leach, Douglas Edward. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Roots of Conflict: British Armed Forces and Colonial Americans, 1677-1763

Roots of Conflict: British Armed Forces and Colonial Americans, 1677-1763

Now Hear This: The Memoir of a Junior Naval Officer in the Great Pacific War

Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War

Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War