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[[File:PoxAmericana.jpg|thumbnail|275px|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080907821X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=080907821X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0cdh-20&linkId=6f39738f10bcf0aeac1b3015f4d00750 Pox Americana]<ad/i>]]
[[Category:Booklists]] [[Category:United States History]] [[Category:American Revolution]][[Category:History Booklists]] [[Category:African American History]] [[Category:Expert Booklists]] [[Category:Native American History]][[Category:Colonial American History]]{{ContributorsMediawiki:Cell}}
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[[File:Almost_a_Miracle.jpg|thumbnail|275px200px|left|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195382927/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195382927&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6c52d967e3cdd801e16d873e3ab2e74a Almost a Miracle]</i>]]
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Continental Congress. This act was only the first step towards the creation of the United States. The United States then fought a seven year war to cement its independence from England. The successful fight for independence has had a remarkable impact on world history over the past 200 years. The United States gradually transformed itself from a former colony into a superpower. The impact of this revolution cannot be ignored.
===Top Ten===
1. Pauline Maier, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679779086/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0679779086&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c48c6171cfb13d967325ab6a420f445b American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence]</i> (Vintage Books, 2012) - Maier's book does a masterful job both explaining the origins of the Declaration of Independence and how the Second Continental Congress transformed itself into a national government. Maier's book may be the best book about the Declaration of Independence. It is absolutely essential if you want to understand why the Declaration of Independence was created and what it was designed to accomplish.
[[File:Black_Patriots_and_Loyalists.jpg|thumbnail|275px|left|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300209401/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0300209401&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4ab2c38262edd1bd2396d23fcc0a9136 Black Patriots and Loyalists]</i>]]
2. Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300209401/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0300209401&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4ab2c38262edd1bd2396d23fcc0a9136 The Men Who Lost America:British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire]</i> (Yale University Press, 2013) - How did the British Empire lose the American colonies? Instead of being undermined by their leaders or military commanders, O'Shaughnessy focuses on the British side of the war to understand what ultimately undermined their campaign against the colonies. Not surprisingly, he discovers a fascinating story where internal British political and economic concerns, the doggedness of the revolutionaries, and the distance between Britain and the colonies slowly degraded the ability and the willingness of the British to continue fighting.
5. John Ferling, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195382927/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195382927&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6c52d967e3cdd801e16d873e3ab2e74a Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence]</i> (Oxford University Press, 2009) Ferling's single volume history of the American Revolution explores how the nascent national government defeated the British. Ultimately, the colonies and George Washington wore down the British and forced them out of the former colonies. Ferling book is fantastic place to start learning about the American Revolution.
6. David Hackett Fischer, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019518159X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019518159X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5818ac0be2c251f25f73965bad4c98ac Washington's Crossing]</i> (Oxford University Press, 2005) - Fischer's Washington Crossing also won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Instead of looking at the entire revolutionary war, Fischer focuses on Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the defeat of the Hessian soldiers in Trenton. Washington's victory was critical for the survival of the American colonies and Fischer's book explores the people (on both sides) who were involved in this military action. He shows how small actions by different actors on both sides can alter the course of history.
[[File:PoxAmericana.jpg|thumbnail|275px|left|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080907821X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=080907821X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6f39738f10bcf0aeac1b3015f4d00750 Pox Americana]</i>]]7. Elizabeth A. Fenn, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080907821X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=080907821X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6f39738f10bcf0aeac1b3015f4d00750 Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82]</i> (Hill and Wang, 2002) - Just as the American Revolution was a beginning a smallpox outbreak began causing chaos and death across the colonies. Fenn describes how the smallpox outbreak almost destroyed Washington's colonial army and spread throughout the colonies during the war. Washington desperate decision to inoculate his troops at Valley Forge saved his troops and the colonies's hopes of independence. After Valley Forge, the smallpox epidemic devastated the slaves who joined the British forces and wiped out Native Americans at the edge of the colonies. Fenn shows the role smallpox played in United Statecolonies's drive for independence.
8. T.H. Breen, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S0D2K8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004S0D2K8&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=99823443055743f099b31eb003c74294 The Marketplace Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence]</i> (Oxford University Press, 2005) - Breen's book looks beyond politics to understand what united the colonies against the crown and comes to unique conclusion. The colonists used their shared experiences as imperial consumers to voice their ideas and opinions against Britain through boycotts. The Boston Tea Party was a political expression of the colonists opinions and lead to one of the most successful consumer boycotts in history.
10. Colin Calloway, <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521475694/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521475694&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=9c04de562a1e098fd28b271863b7b288 The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities]</i> (Studies in North American Indian History) (Cambridge University Press, 1995) - Unlike Forgotten Allies, Calloway's book explores the impact of the Revolution on eight different Indian communities. The Revolution fundamentally changed the political dynamics for Native Americans. Calloway traces the ways that these Indians communities were changed and destroyed as result of the war. It was the first major book that took this approach to the American Revolution.
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====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====
*[[Thomas Jefferson, the Founding Fathers and Christianity: Interview with Sam Haselby]]
*[[Social History of American Medicine Top Ten Booklist]]
*[[American Legal History Top Ten Booklist]]
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[[Category:Booklists]] [[Category:United States History]] [[Category:American Revolution]][[Category:History Booklists]] [[Category:African American History]] [[Category:Expert Booklists]] [[Category:Native American History]][[Category:Colonial American History]]{{Mediawiki:US HistoryContributors}}
