{"id":292421,"date":"2025-06-14T08:34:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/americanstudies-june-14-15-2025-revolutionary-war-figures-the-continental-army\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T08:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:34:25","slug":"americanstudies-june-14-15-2025-revolutionary-war-figures-the-continental-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=292421","title":{"rendered":"AmericanStudies: June 14-15, 2025: Revolutionary War Figures: The Continental Army"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[On June 14th<\/sup>,
\n1775<\/a>, the Continental Army was formed at the Second
\nContinental Congress<\/a> in Philadelphia. So for the 250th<\/sup>
\nof that momentous military moment, I\u2019ve AmericanStudied a handful of iconic
\nRevolutionary War figures, leading up to this special weekend post on that
\nhistoric anniversary!]<\/p>\n

Three
\ntelling details about the formation and evolution of the Continental Army.<\/span><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>New England Origins: Having grown up in
\nVirginia and now spent more than half of my life in Massachusetts, I\u2019m well aware
\nof the longstanding debates over where the Revolution & thus the United
\nStates really began (and of course my other brief hometown, Philadelphia, can
\nstake its own claim in that argument). I\u2019m not necessarily trying to weigh in
\non that question in an overarching way here, but it is important to note that
\nthe first colonial armies were mustered in New England states\u2014first Massachusetts in April 1775<\/a> (not
\nlong after Lexington & Concord), and then New
\nHampshire<\/a>, Rhode
\nIsland<\/a>, and Connecticut<\/a>
\nsoon after. Those armies seemingly convinced the Second Continental Congress of
\nthe need for a more truly nationwide force, and on June 14th<\/sup> they
\nvoted to establish the Continental Army (and a day
\nlater elected<\/a> Virginian George Washington as its commander; sorry New
\nEngland). <\/span><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Invading Canada: In March, the historian Stacy
\nSchiff wrote an excellent
\nop-ed for the New York Times<\/i><\/a> (that\u2019s a gift link if you don\u2019t
\nsubscribe) tracing the long and mostly very silly history of American leaders
\ntoying with the idea of invading and\/or annexing Canada. Obviously that goal
\nwas at least significantly different during the Revolutionary War, and so it
\nisn\u2019t particularly surprising that the first major use of the Continental Army\u2014almost
\nimmediately after its creation, in fact\u2014was to send Philip Schuyler\u2019s<\/a>
\nNew York regiments to invade
\nour neighbor<\/a> to the North. But I nonetheless agree with the headline at
\nthat last hyperlinked article\u2014that this was a hasty and ill-advised invasion,
\none almost certainly doomed to fail (and fail
\nit did<\/a>). Perhaps the best way to put it is this: while the Continental Army
\nwas initially created as a defense force (and mostly used as such throughout
\nthe war), once an army exists, it seems very difficult for its commanders not
\nto want to use it for attacks as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>A Wartime or Standing Army?: An awareness of
\nthat fact was no doubt one significant factor in the widespread
\nAmerican opposition<\/a>, both at the time of its creation, throughout the
\nRevolution, and most especially into its
\naftermath<\/a>, to the Continental Army remaining in place as a standing army
\n(rather than being defined as a wartime one that would be dissolved once said
\nwar was completed). It\u2019s quite difficult, 75 years into the full explosion of
\nour military-industrial
\ncomplex<\/a>, to contemplate a United States without standing armed forces (and
\nof course the relative absence of them didn\u2019t end up being a great thing in
\nthe Early Republic<\/a>). But as with any aspect of our founding, I think we
\nshould treat this concept as one that can and should still be debated\u2014and
\nbetter remembering the framing debates over the Continental Army can help us do
\nso. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next
\nseries starts Monday,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What
\ndo you think? Rev War figures you\u2019d highlight?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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