| Explained and analyzed, in the context of the civil-military relationship, are the reasons why the American Revolution was not undermined by an American military tyranny. The early chapters are devoted to explaining the ideological and historical background of the American revolution with respect to American fears of power, anarchy, standing armies, and military despotism; the American's faith in their militia; and their insistence on civil supremacy being the guiding principle of the civil-military relationship. Also detailed is how the Continental Army was created, structured, and maintained so as to minimize the possibility of it subverting the civilian governments. Additionally addressed in the early chapters are the personal and political dynamics of the civil-military relationship. How the Continental Congress and state governments controlled and directed their military forces, as well as how the military controlled themselves, is detailed in the middle chapters. Also included in these chapters is an analysis of the military's often critical opinion of the civilian governments and the American people; explanations for those instances when the military threatened and violated the lives, liberties, and properties of their fellow citizens; and a discussion of the military's frequent involvement in and interference with the civilian governments and the political process. The last chapters are devoted to an analysis of the civil-military relationship during the last four years of the Revolutionary War, when it was most severely tested, and when the American Revolution was most susceptible to being undermined by a domestic military tyranny. Special attention is given in these chapters to the factors which prevented the Continental Army from subverting the civilian governments, particularly during the last year of the war. Also included, in the last chapter, is an analysis, in the context of several contemporary works on civil-military affairs, of the reasons for the American Revolution not being undermined by the American military forces. |
