America at 250 by Francis P. Sempa

United States Independence Was Won on the Battlefield

America’s official birthday coincides with the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The American colonies voted for independence on July 2nd, and the document was not completely signed by the members of Congress until August 2nd. But the United States gained its independence only after eight years of fighting from 1775 to 1783. Our independence was won not by parchment signed by colonial delegates to the Second Continental Congress, but by the soldiers of the Continental Army.

The celebrations on July 4th included magnificent displays of current U.S. air and naval power in New York’s harbor and in Washington, D.C., which is entirely fitting since it was the fledgling American military that made our independence possible by defeating the forces of the mighty British Empire on some of the hallowed ground of North America, including Lexington Green and Concord Bridge, Bunker and Breed’s Hills, Ft. Ticonderoga, Valcour Island, Quebec, Brooklyn Heights, Harlem Heights, and Long Island, Valley Forge, Trenton, Brandywine, Princeton, Oriskany, Saratoga, Monmouth, Port Royal Island, Kettle Creek, Charleston, Ramsour’s Mill, Camden (South Carolina), King’s Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Yorktown.

Early battlefield defeats cast doubts about whether an American victory was possible. Thomas Paine in 1776 in “The American Crisis” wrote that “These are the times that try men’s souls,” and praised the grit and courage of our patriot soldiers as opposed to the “summer soldier and sunshine patriot” who flee from difficulty. But battlefield victories helped American diplomats Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Silas Deane exploit European rivalries to secure alliances with France and Spain, transforming the colonial rebellion into a world war. Those alliances were crucial to victory. So, too, was the leadership of Gen. George Washington. Independence, therefore, was not a one-day occurrence but rather an epic story of bravery, hardship, fortitude, cunning and commitment which against all odds achieved victory over the world’s greatest power.

You can read about that epic struggle in Rick Atkinson’s “The British are Coming” and “The Fate of the Day,” the first two volumes in a projected trilogy of the American Revolution. The first two books cover the war from 1775 to 1780. Atkinson is currently completing the third volume, which will cover the final years of the revolution. An excellent one-volume treatment of the War of Independence is Eric Metaxas’ “Revolution.’ Metaxas’ work covers the ideological, philosophical, military and spiritual aspects of the revolution. To get a sense of the war from the perspective of the combat soldier, Patrick K. O’Donnell’s “Washington’s Immortals,” “The Indispensables” and “Revolutionary Snipers” are also worth reading.

So, as we continue to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, while we reflect on the Declaration of Independence and the men who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in that great cause, we must also appreciate the eight-year epic struggle that brought independence to fruition.

Francis P. Sempa is the author of the books “Geopolitics: From the Cold War to the 21st Century” and “America’s Global Role.” He is a contributing editor to “The American Spectator” and writes a regular column for “Real Clear Defense.”