Copyright (c) All Rights Reserved

Cuban Contribution to the
Battle of Yorktown

Author: Dr. Jose Ignacio Lasagas

"Was the American Revolution a Truly Poplular Movement?

For many years, the American Revolution has often been portrayed as having had the support of only a minority of the people of the Thirteen Colonies. One of the foundations for this theory is the statement, allegedly made by John Adams, the second president of the United States, who claimed that one third of the people favored the Revolution, one third opposed it and the remaining third was eithr neutral or"lukewarm." In point of fact, however, the statement has been taken out of context. As historian William Harina has recently shown, Adams was referring not to the popular reaction to the American Revolution, but, rather, to the French Revolution when it broke out several years later.

It is nevertheless true that in the United States, as was also the case in South America, the patriot army was made up of volunteers and that the heroism that such a decision entails is never to be found in great masses of the population.

But even if only a small minority of Americans joined the Continental Army under the command of George Washington, it seems clear that, in many different ways, the army enjoyed the moral and material support of most of the people. Let it be remembered in this regard that British troop seldom ventured afield from their strongholds, fearful of being waylaid by the local militia or by armed civilians in the area.

But Britain did enjoy two strong advantages in her global strategy against the rebellious American colonists: Canada and the sea.

It would seem that French Canadians regarded the war as a struggle between two groups of "Englishmen" and never did join the cause of the Americans. The guarantees afforded French customs and tradions by the Quebec Act appeared preferable in their eyes to any offers the United States could make.