Reclaiming the Fourth: The Diverse Coalition Behind American Independence

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Every Fourth of July, some groups push a narrow, Anglo-Saxon myth of an inherited white warrior elite. In reality, most colonists refused to fight for George Washington. The Revolution’s true heroes were Huguenot exiles, Southern European sailors, and colonial-born Creoles. John Henri de France arrived as a French Huguenot exile and brought professional military discipline. His son, John de France, was a Pennsylvania-born Creole. Their story shows that American independence was won by a multicultural force, not an ethnically pure brotherhood.

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