What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia?

Most of us learned about the Revolution as a story of thirteen North American colonies pushing back against a distant king. But this episode reveals something far wilder: a genuinely global war whose consequences rippled across every inhabited continent — reshaping empires, forcing migrations, and planting the seeds of more than a hundred declarations of independence that would follow over the next two and a half centuries.

Joseph Adelman joins historian Richard Bell to explore the American Revolution as a world war. They discuss:

Why the Declaration of Independence was really a Declaration of Interdependence
How Hyder Ali, the Muslim ruler of Mysore in southern India, became George Washington's ally by the logic of wartime coalitions
How Spain's campaign to recapture Florida tied down thousands of British troops
How Britain's convict crisis, caused by losing access to Maryland and Virginia, led to the founding of Australia at Botany Bay.

Rick's Website | Book |
Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/438

EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:06:28 Differences in Perception of the American Revolution
00:09:00 Reframing the Declaration of Independence
00:17:32 Molly Brandt and Haudenosaunee Diplomacy
00:24:38 Baron von Steuben: A Mercenary's Tale
00:29:15 The American Revolution: Myth vs. Reality
00:35:02 The American Revolution and Florida
00:43:39 The American Revolution's Impact on India
00:50:24 The Connection Between the American Revolution and Australia
00:56:50 Themes of the American Revolution
00:59:16 The Time Warp
00:62:00 Conclusion

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES
🎧 Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft
🎧 Episode 163: The American Revolution in North America
🎧 Episode 238: Benedict Arnold
🎧 Episode 348: Valley Forge
🎧 Episode 325: Everyday People of the American Revolution
🎧 Episode 437: The Home Front
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