Review of Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth

Abstract

First paperback edition. Hoock shows in this account of America's founding, the Revolution was not only a high-minded battle over principles, but also a violent civil war--one that shaped the nation, and the British Empire, in ways we have only begun to understand. In this history, he writes the violence back into the story of the American Revolution. Hoock also examines the moral dilemmas posed by this all-pervasive violence, as the British found themselves torn between unlimited war and restraint toward fellow subjects, while the Patriots documented war crimes in an ingenious effort to unify the fledgling nation. For two centuries we have whitewashed this history of the Revolution. The author forces a more honest appraisal, revealing the inherent tensions between moral purpose and violent tendencies in America's past. In so doing, Hoock offers a new origins story that is both relevant and necessary--an important reminder that forging a nation is rarely bloodless. --From publisher description. Tory Hunting -- Britain's dilemma -- Rubicon -- Plundering protectors -- Violated bodies -- Slaughterhouses -- Black holes -- Skiver them! -- Town-destroyer -- Americanizing the war -- Man for man -- Returning losers.