Beyond Fireworks: How Nonviolent Action Shaped American Independence

Now that the Fourth of July fireworks are over and the smoke of nationalism has cleared slightly, it's time to pick up the trash on the beaches and look at truth instead of flag-waving. This week on Love (and Revolution) Radio, we offer a special program. According to historian and researcher Walter Conser (not to mention President John Adams) the Revolutionary War was not what won our independence from Great Britain . . . and the answer to what did may surprise you to the point of rethinking everything you've been told about the founding of the United States of America.Sign up for our weekly email: http://www.riverasun.com/love-and-revolution-radio/About Our Guest: Walter Conser is a professor of religion and a professor of history at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is co-editor along with Gene Sharp and others of Before Lexington: resistance, politics, and the American struggle for independence, 1765-1775 which is forthcoming quite soon from the Albert Einstein Institute in Boston.Related Links:Walter Conser's forthcoming book, "Before Lexington: resistance, politics and the American struggle for independence" will be available here: http://www.aeinstein.org/Recovering Nonviolent History, with a chapter of the American Independence Struggle by Walter Conserhttp://recoveringnonviolenthistory.org/Albert Einstein Institutionhttp://www.aeinstein.org/Gene Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Actionhttps://www.amazon.com/Power-Struggle-Politics-Nonviolent-Action/dp/087558070XWhy Civil Resistance Works by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephanhttp://www.ericachenoweth.com/research/wcrw/Love (and Revolution) Radio interview with Ken Butigan on the Just War Theoryhttp://occupyradio.podomatic.com/entry/2016-05-03T15_25_09-07_00Further listening on this subject is available on Campaign Nonviolence's recent National Conference Call with Walter Conser as guest speaker:http://www.paceebene.org/2016/06/29/campaign-nonviolence-conference-call-june-2016/Find a few more tantalizing tidbits via Rivera Sun's essay on the subject:http://www.riverasun.com/the-nonviolent-history-of-american-independence/Music by: "Love and Revolution" by Diane Patterson and Spirit Radio www.dianepatterson.orgThis week's featured music is How To Do by Chriz Ballandiz & Ema-Production on his Campfire Acoustics album. You can find it on jamendo.com under campfire acoustics. https://www.jamendo.com/album/119886/campfire-acousticsAbout Your Co-hosts: Sherri Mitchell (Penobscot) is an Indigenous rights attorney, writer and activist who melds traditional life-way teachings into spirit-based movements. Follow her at Sherri Mitchell – Wena’gamu’gwasit: https://www.facebook.com/sacredinstructions/timelineRivera Sun is a novelist and nonviolent mischief-maker. She is the author of The Dandelion Insurrection, Billionaire Buddha, and Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars. She is also the social media coordinator and nonviolence trainer for Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene. Her essays on social justice movements are syndicated on by PeaceVoice, and appear in Truthout and Popular Resistance. www.riverasun.com