Advertisements

A tempest in the colonies

HURRICANE OF INDEPENDENCE:
The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the
Deciding Moment of the American Revolution
By Tony Williams
320 pp. Sourcebooks, Inc. $22.95

Review and Author Interview by Julie McGuire

What deadly storm? I’ve sat through countless history lessons on the American Revolution. I recall learning about the Boston Tea Party, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. I know that brave patriots from thirteen new colonies battled the great British Empire until they won their Independence.

But a hurricane—in fact the 8th deadliest Atlantic hurricane of all time—landing on the shores of America on September 2, 1775? Now that is a fresh new perspective from which to view such a pivotal part of our history.

Author Tony Williams traces the trajectory of the “Hurricane of Independence”—followed quickly by a second more deadly storm—from its landing at New Bern, North Carolina, to Norfolk, Williamsburg, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Newport, New York City, and Boston. He maps the devastation of the second storm—"Codfisherman’s Hurricane"—as it kills thousands in Newfoundland, and wreaks havoc on the British cod industry.

Twenty-first century technology allows us to track hurricanes using satellite imagery. We can measure their strength, and wind speeds. And we can warn people, sometimes days in advance, that a devastating storm is on its way. In 1775, however, while the country was experiencing another storm of a political and philosophical nature, there was no warning, no scientific explanation for the tempest unleashed on the colonies. Instead, many of the victims saw the storms and their aftermath as God’s providence. They just didn’t know if God was punishing the master, Britain, or the defiant colonists.

Using a wide variety of sources, including newspaper accounts, Williams gives his readers a compelling, well-written, and engaging account of the extraordinary events that led to the birth of our country, through the lives of the men and women, both ordinary and extraordinary, who struggled mightily for their freedom and liberty. And while Williams acknowledges that other meteorological events had a greater impact on the outcome of the Revolutionary War—Washington’s crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night for example—he says this:

...the story of the hurricane[s] in my book is in many ways the story of the American Revolution. It is the story of slaves who desired freedom and escaped to the British side, some tragically caught during the storm and returned to their masters. It is the story of the delegates who were heading to the Continental Congress to debate how the American colonies would respond to oppressive British measures. It is the story of how General George Washington’s men suffered terribly for their country’s liberty and how he made military decisions based upon the weather.

Tony Williams is a former history and literature teacher. He has a Master’s degree in American History from Ohio State University, and is now a full-time writer in Williamsburg, Virginia, who once swore, “I will never write more than a book review.”

When I arranged to meet Mr. Williams at a coffee store near Colonial Williamsburg, he described himself as “tall and gangly.” While an apt physical description, after just a few minutes with him I learned that a better description would be unabashed patriot. Williams is unapologetic in his love of America and the principles of liberty and self-government. He celebrates the America that has called countless people from around the world. Here is an account of our conversation:

Why did you want to write this particular story?

I did not set out to write an academic account of the impact of meteorological events on the outcome of the American Revolution but rather a well-researched dramatic historical narrative. I am still an educator at heart and see writing popular history books as an extension of my teaching. I am appealing to a broad audience by telling a great story while teaching them about America’s founding principles. I am proudly a popular historian. I want to tell great stories by spinning a great yarn about an event that virtually no one had ever heard of before. I hope that this “untold story” will fan enthusiasm and help to recapture a “sense of wonder” in our American stories especially of the American Revolution and founding of this country. I am interested in analyzing our American principles from a different viewpoint, exploring how those principles became public policy through the actions of individuals who laid down the principles I think we should still abide by and frame our public debates around.

How does weather impact social events?

In many ways the hurricane affected people’s lives more than the Revolution. Weather has a profound affect on social history, which usually focuses on the lenses of race, class, and gender. I have great admiration for the “Greatest Generation” of Revolutionaries who were tough, hearty individuals who fought the world’s largest empire and forged a nation. I was struck in reading the primary sources to see how they faced such a natural disaster: it hit without warning, and the survivors cleaned up, mourned and buried their dead and moved on with their lives. Life was fragile and difficult for everyone as people struggled against disease, droughts, war, and hurricanes. The early Americans didn’t have a central government that could step in and help them out. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and used community to rebuild lives.

You talk a lot about American Exceptionalism in the book. Tell me more.

America is a great experiment in liberty. An experiment even the founders weren’t convinced would work. Human nature had gotten the best of others who’d tried: the Greeks, Romans, the Italians, even the Dutch. But it worked in America. I would argue that the experiment in liberty has worked because despite our diversity, we’ve embraced principles that fundamentally unite us: principles of freedom, liberty, and self-government which go deeper than skin color and national origin. America was and is a “city upon a hill” or a “light to the world” that offers something different: a moral example that is the model for self-governing countries throughout the world. “People,” he said, “are not flocking to Iran or China.” Many nations have appealed to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and emulated them.

Divine Providence is also a theme of the book. What did it mean then? Is it relevant now?

Divine Providence was deeply embedded in the world view at the time. People saw everything—hurricanes, the revolution—through a religious lens. Religion infused the public square during the American Revolution. For example, the Continental Congress attended religious services as a body and had chaplains from different denominations. George Washington had chaplains in the army and mandated church attendance to foster virtue, which he felt was the basis for a self-governing society. But, they always promoted religion with an eye towards religious liberty and pluralism. The world view at the time was black and white. There were not many people who straddled the fence on the issue of religion. They believed that they were fighting for their God-given liberties, and heard it from the pulpit every Sunday even if they did not read their John Locke. Religion is still very important to most people in public life today, but unfortunately the debate in religious life has been hijacked by radical atheists and radical Christians. These extremes don’t capture the texture of our pluralistic religious views and are a caricature of the often quiet but sincerely held religious beliefs of the American people.

As a writer, I have to ask you about the basics. Tell me how Hurricane of Independence came to be?

Years ago, I was watching C-SPAN’s “Book TV” and heard an author mention the hurricane in passing. I jotted the tidbit down on a 3x5 card because it sounded interesting (though I was not a writer at the time and don’t really know why I noted it). After retiring from teaching and becoming a writer, I eventually found the card. I thought it was an intriguing story, combining the natural disaster with the context of the Revolution, that had to be told. I was very curious and went to the public library to do further research, combing through meteorological records, soldiers’ diaries, the letters of founding fathers, and history journals. I just knew that a publisher would pick it up as my first book, and specifically knew that Sourcebooks, Inc. would be a great match with their interest in dramatic narratives. Hurricane was published in August, 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc. The folks at Sourcebooks and I have a great working relationship. My editor is great, and I have a fantastic marketing team. Plus, the graphic designers deserve kudos for their handsome cover that gets me as many compliments as the writing. I am very proud to be working on my second book with them.

Tell me more about your writing process.

I throw around ideas with my editor and we have to pay attention to both something of interest as well as something that is realistically sellable to the public. I then get my hands on as many books and articles—both scholarly and popular—as I can read for background material. The outline, which comes next, is the most important part of the process (for my current book it is more than 100 pages long). I never write without logically framing my ideas in an outline. I smartly follow this advice I gave to my students constantly. Moreover, I am constantly fleshing out my ideas while I’m in my study or walking the dog. A logical framework, having a nice flow, and building a dramatic narrative are all essential aspects to a good non-fiction book. I constantly ask myself, will the book make “a good read?” Is it a book I would enjoy reading?

Then comes the writing. Every weekday I take my children to school and then head to a local coffeehouse from about 9a.m.-12p.m. with my laptop and a pile of books and sources. The espresso machine and conversation provide background noise and I’m free of distractions (mostly checking e-mail) at home. I usually aim for 5-6 pages per day, and then I’m spent. I eat lunch and then read, research, or do a little more writing again until 3:00 p.m. when I pick up the kids and be a dad. I don’t write while the kids are around because I’m too distracted and my family is more important to me than the books. In the evenings, I read as many books as I can. I think I’ve found the ideal way to combine my love for teaching and history in my love for writing. Instead of just fifty students a year, I’m now educating citizens in our nation’s founding history.

You mentioned a second book in the works for Sourcebooks, Inc. What is it about?

The book is about a smallpox epidemic that ravaged Boston in 1721and focuses on the Puritan ministers’ role in introducing inoculation into the colonists over the opposition of the doctors of the town and a young Benjamin Franklin and his brother. It makes for a very dramatic story and a nice twist on history. It will challenge many of our fundamental popular (and one-dimensional) misconceptions of the Puritans. It is scheduled for publication in October.

What is currently on your bookshelf?

I like to read widely and deeply in a variety of subjects. My bookshelves show a somewhat eclectic taste: from European, American, and World History to philosophy, theology, law, literature, and nonfiction. A few Christmas presents that added to my collection recently include the collected poems of T.S. Eliot, Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex turned me on to dramatic nonfiction narratives. I’m a fan of Simon Winchester’s The Man Who Loved China, and the works of David McCullough and Erik Larson. Despite my great passion for nonfiction, I would list Paul Auster, Graham Swift, and Marilynne Robinson as my favorite contemporary novelists. I read these books in my “spare time.’ [Chuckling.]

NOTE: Tony Williams will review Carlo D’Este’s Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945 in the March 2009 issue of The Internet Review of Books.

---

Julie McGuire is a paralegal. Her personal essays and poems have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and several small periodicals. She and her family live in Virginia.

Copyright © 2008 by Internet Review of Books
Webdesign by Jasper van der Meer webdesignstudio | XHTML