A Brief Look at "The American Revolution"

In between obsessing over 30 Day Map Challenges I’ve been watching The American Revolution on PBS. It’s impressive in its scope and ambition and the map content is wonderful. Lines are animated across historical maps, many of which I’ve never seen before, to show troop movements in red (British) and blue (American). Here is an example from the series that you can watch a clip of on their web site

This shows Brooklyn, NY and the Battle of Long Island. George Washington’s army was forced to retreat after failing to secure the Jamaica Pass over the Gowanus Heights. I had no idea that Brooklyn had such heights as to require people to travel through passes. I’ve never had much trouble getting through that area-it’s the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway around the perimeter that will kill you.

Here is an interactive map where you can click various battle sites to get more content. I like that when you choose the Battle of Trenton it starts snowing across New Jersey.

I have not had a chance to explore much of their web content, but having spent most of my life traveling between Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, and seeing signs for these battlefields all over the region, there will be much for me to explore. I may come back to this for a more in depth post in the future.