Why the Common Cause Turned Dark

Before Common Sense could ignite a revolution, colonists had to be convinced they shared a cause worth fighting for. So how did Revolutionary leaders turn thirteen very different colonies into “Americans”—and what stories did they tell to make that unity feel real?

In this Ben Franklin’s World Revisited episode, historian Robert Parkinson returns to explore how newspapers and wartime messaging helped forge the Revolution’s “common cause”—and how that campaign leaned on fear, race, and exclusion to build a new national identity.

Rob’s Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/144
 
RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 016: The Internal Enemy
🎧 Episode 122: The Men Who Lost America
🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft
🎧 Episode 243: Revolutionary Print Networks
🎧 Episode 375: Misinformation Nation: Fake News in Early America
🎧 Episode 431: Common Sense at 250: The Pamphlet That Sparked A Revolution
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