Includes bibliographical references (pages 551-604) and index.

Introduction. The spirit of 1775 -- The Revolution : provocations, motivations, and alignments. Liberty's vanguard ; Religion, ethnicity, and revolutionary loyalty ; A revolution for economic self-determination ; Urban radicalism and the tide of revolution ; Challenge from the backcountry ; The ideologies of revolution -- 1775 : the battlegrounds. Fortress New England? ; Declaring economic war ; Five roads to Canada ; The global munitions struggle, 1774-1776 ; The supply war at sea ; The first British southern strategy, 1775-1776 ; Is Falmouth burning? ; Red, white, and black ; Divided national opinion and Britain's need to hire mercenaries ; The Chesapeake : America's vulnerable estuary ; The American Revolution as a civil war ; The Declaration of Independence : a stitch in time? -- Consequences and ramifications. The Battle of Boston : a great American victory ; Canada : defeat or victory? ; Lord Dunmore's second war ; Whaleboats, row galleys, schooners, and submarines : the small-ship origins of the U.S. Navy ; Europe, the Bourbon Compact, and the American Revolution ; The southern expedition of 1775 and the limitations of British power ; 1775 : a good year for revolution.