The Revolutionary Era (1763-1818)

As recently as 1948, Albert E. Van Dusen could write, "The history of Connecticut during the Revolution has offered a virtually untapped field for exploration and treatment," and with one or two exceptions, "no important studies have appeared yet on the larger phases of the subject." (p. v. of his dissertation) But now, however, next to the 150-year colonial era, the quarter century between 1763 and 1789 enjoys the largest body of work in the field of Connecticut history. The three years before the Bicentennial alone produced at least 107 new works. They are listed in a bibliography of town-related publications, mostly pamphlets, some for school use, by Mohini Mundkur, The Connecticut Bicentennial in Print (Storrs:  The University of Connecticut, 1977, 16 pages). Chester M. Destler has compiled a list of about 450 works useful in the study of Connecticut and the American Revolution which was published in Connecticut History (16 August, 1975). The list includes many works of a general nature, not focused on Connecticut.

Yet among this list of titles, none amounts to a modern comprehensive study of the American Revolution in Connecticut and Connecticut in the American Revolution. As Secretary of the State, Royal R. Hinman compiled A Historical Collection From Official Records, Files, Etc. of the Part Sustained by Connecticut During the War of the Revolution (Hartford: E. Gleason, 1842), largely a collection of documents and material copied verbatim from official records, which he called "a perfect chaos." Hinman included a narrative account of about a hundred pages that goes only through May, 1778, and an "Epitome" of the doings of the Council of Safety and the acts of the General Assembly through the same date. This is not called volume I, and there is no volume II. Hinman gives no hint as to why he stopped when he did. It is, however, a useful compendium for the scholar and antiquarian, though not an easy and quick way to an understanding of the political and military events of the era.

Another quasi-official work is Albert C. Bates, "Fighting the Revolution with Printer's Ink in Connecticut; the Official Printing of that Colony from Lexington to the Declaration," Papers of the NHCHS 9 (1918):129-60. In a lively narrative with very long quotations, Bates reprints the official acts and resolves of the General Assembly.

Lists of men who served in the War, along with their organizations and other data, are in "Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775-1783," Collections of the CHS 8 (1901), "Orderly Book and Journals kept by Men During the American Revolution," Collections of the CHS 7 (1899), and Connecticut Revolutionary Pensioners, published by the Connecticut D.A.R in 1919 as Appendix A of Senate Document, "Twenty-First Report of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, March 1, 1917 to March 1, 1918," which lists 11,000 names with records of service, widows names and place of residence. It was reprinted in 1982 by Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.

The closest thing to the missing comprehensive history is Richard Buel, Jr., Dear Liberty: Connecticut's Mobilization for the Revolutionary War (Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1980). "I do not discount the importance of military operations," Buel writes; "indeed they form a substantial part of my account. But I am interested in them primarily for their effect upon recruitment, procurement, and popular morale. Connecticut, though she saw little fighting on her own ground, provides a particularly clear illustration of that other side of life in wartime." (p. xii) Buel finds the state demoralized and traumatized by the war, and the leadership confirmed in its determination to promote provincial stability. He uncovers a great deal of material showing the economic chaos and near collapse of the Connecticut economy during the war. Government interference and sanctions were necessary to encourage farmers to produce for sale, but the effort overall was counterproductive. The best markets--often resorted to--were those offered by the enemy. Jackson Turner Main has said, "The book reflects accurately and capably the Federalist analysis of wartime issues and the 'critical' period and their motives in establishing a new system. Buel clearly agrees with them, and his book therefore ends as an explanation and celebration of their success.” (American Historical Review 86, October 1981, p. 918)

Another approach to an overview is analysis of the public discourse as drawn from published works of Connecticut's intelligencia during the second half of the eighteenth century:  Christopher Grasso. A Speaking Aristocracy: Transforming Public Discourse in Eighteenth Century Connecticut. Chapel Hill, Univ. of N.C. Press, 1999.  This study traces in more detail than necessary the shift, from the early 18^th century to about 1800, of public discourse. The earlier era was given exclusively to the educated elite -- mostly clergymen -- who spoke with authority to the people. They were clothed with recognized authority and deferred to by almost everyone. By 1800 public discourse had expanded from the topics of morality and religion to secular politics, and, though still dominated by an educated elite, had to attend to the concerns of a wide public and use persuasive ideas and rhetorical techniques to gain followers. Public discourse had become democratized, at least by the standards of the day, and was more like a conversation among involved players than a lecture from authority figures. A much acclaimed work, but pretty heavy going.