Book Recommender: “1776” by David McCullough Delves Into the Lesser-known Moments That Helped Define Our Nation

Drafted mid-year, the Declaration is what became historically significant, but plenty else happened in 1776 to shape America’s future

“1776” by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2005).

In some ways, the Colonies had endured a slow political boil since the Stamp Act of 1765. And with the 1774 Coercive Acts, there came the tipping point. Passions flared, and rebellion ignited. Thus, historian and Pulitzer Prize winning writer David McCullough begins “1776” with a January 14 quote by Gen. George Washington: “Few people know the predicament we are in.”

In take-you-there, play-by-play prose that is anything but boring, McCullough weaves the threads of the Revolution’s foundation. He does not start on American soil, but rather in England, where His Royal Majesty George III insists that subjugation of the colonists is necessary. McCullough emphasized the king’s point of view: “America must be made to obey.”