In just a few days, we will celebrate the Semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. My sister-in-law Heather Tremko was able to trace my ancestry to at least five Patriots of the Revolutionary War including my ancestor Edward Croft. That is as far back as we have traced my paternal line with any confidence.
I thought I had found a link on someone else's family tree that connected my paternal line to before the American Revolution. When I looked at these potential ancestors, I noticed that they included plantation owners, sea captains, and merchants. I wondered what might have incited members of this family to rebel against the King given their positions of great wealth.
The short answer is that these were probably not my ancestors. When I looked at the link more closely, it did not seem to match the genealogical evidence. This makes more sense to me as I suspect that most of my Patriot ancestors were from frontier families who had more to gain than lose by revolting.
This has had me thinking more about the causes and conditions that led to the Revolutionary War. Ever since I stumbled onto the video The Working Class Uprising They Don't Teach You About on YouTube, I have been searching for more like this. Here are some of the YouTube channels and playlists that I have found:
- PBS The American Revolution
- PBS Origins
- Comedy Central: Every Revolutionary War Story -- Drunk History
- Oversimplified: Revolutions
- Kings and Generals: American Revolution -- War of Independence
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