The American Revolution was a vast insurgency movement requiring mass communication, mass mobilization, and a single-mindedness of purpose on the part of a huge number of colonists acting together, joined by a common cause.

Who were these people? In Ordinary Americans of the Revolution, taught by Professor Richard Bell of the University of Maryland, you’ll discover the American Revolution from a startlingly different perspective: not the perspective of the Founding Fathers, who were people of wealth and privilege, but of the common people who made the revolution happen. In 28 dynamic lessons, you’ll hear the extraordinary experiences of people such as:

Ebenezer Mackintosh: Follow the exploits of the fireman and leader of street parades who rose to command the Boston mob during the Stamp Act Crisis;

Crispus Attucks: Take account of the Boston Massacre, a political cause célèbre, and the role of one of the casualties, a mixed-race sailor named Crispus Attucks;

Martha Ballard: Learn how American women became political actors during the revolution. See what the diary of Martha Ballard, a midwife, reveals about the changing fortunes of American women;

Thomas Jeremiah: Better understand the harrowing challenges the revolution brought to African Americans, and how a free Black pilot, Thomas Jeremiah, became the focus of the wrath of slaveholders;

Daniel Shays: Following the war, track the Shays Rebellion, where soldier-turned-farmer Daniel Shays led disaffected Massachusetts farmers in a violent insurrection; and

Molly Brant: Encounter the remarkable figure of Molly Brant, a Native Mohawk and wife of a British official, whose diplomatic abilities and leadership aided her people in navigating the extreme challenges of the war.

Professor Bell’s nuanced, challenging perspectives and amazingly detailed knowledge of the time period make this a tremendously compelling story. In Ordinary Americans of the Revolution, you’ll experience the complexity, the many dimensions, and the human face of the bitter struggle that forged the United States.