Reading the book “A Revolutionary People at War” I gained a different understanding of the war as a whole. First, as I read, I notice that there is a larger reason why Americans chose to fight against the British, not just for freedom, but that the revolutionaries' overall spiritual belief was a driving force behind their willpower . fight. Second, how the American citizen's relationship with the Continental Army changed dramatically during the war, from being an ununiformed, "militia" army, to a professionalized standing army, and finally how all beliefs during the war have lasted over time. One aspect that needs to be highlighted is the major differences between Great Britain and the still developing American colonies. Of course the British were a huge political and military power that had centuries of combat experience in Europe and was able to get the better of other great powers like Spain and France and even though Britain is a better naval power in terms of standing army, they still outnumbered American revolutionaries by a landslide. On the other hand, American military power, at the time, was a full 180 compared to that of the British Army in terms of men and combat experience, for example the American colonists had no official army or navy when the war broke out. Revolution, The only form of military power America had was a local militia of the colonies made up, in the eyes of the English, of "a race of chicken-hearted farmers, dry goods dealers, and slavers" (Royster, 10) . But it would not be numbers or experience that would determine the outcome of this war, but it would be the different morality of both countries that... middle of paper... the American army found itself facing in terms of experience compared to the British and also how the country's morals helped motivate a group of inexperienced soldiers to defeat the strongest military power in the world, but the main focus I learned to appreciate from the book was the internal struggle for the power of the American people and their military. In my opinion, this is the side of the war that is not as well explained as in Royster's book, not only were the English fighting the colonies, but the colonies were fighting themselves. Ultimately these proceedings that took place during the American Revolution had the lasting effect that the military should stay out of public ideals and that Americans should allow the military to control their soldiers, but because of the Newburgh conspiracy there it was a public sense of distrust towards the US military.