Hurricane of Independence
by Tony Williams
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
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Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali
In September 1775, just a few months after the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, an Atlantic hurricane made landfall in New Bern, North Carolina and proceeded to pummel Norfolk, Williamsburg, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Newport, New York and Boston. Williams posits that a second storm barreled through Newfoundland, crippled the cod fishing industry and devastated the community. It is an open question if this was indeed a second storm or the tail end of the first.
In the 18th century, natural disasters were viewed by the scions of the Enlightenment movement as natural (and scientific) phenomena. The more pious viewed natural disasters as divine signs from the heavens. Most people were somewhere in between. If the “Hurricane of Independence” (as it was aptly called) was indeed religious symbolism, its message was not clear. It struck both sides in Virginia, drenched Philadelphia just as the Continental Congress was convening, and pinned confronting armies amassed in Boston. In Newfoundland, the storm indiscriminately claimed thousands of lives, deposited cadavers far inland or swept them out to sea.
At the time, Americans viewed themselves as God’s chosen people, protected by God in their fight against British tyranny (which was on the side of the devil). Was the storm to punish the rebels for their insolence against British monarchy? Was it meant to remind Americans to be virtuous? Perhaps God was truly on the American side as the storm prevented the British from attacking Dorchester Heights and Lord Cornwallis was unable to escape from Yorktown.
Williams extends the storm analogy to the political events brewing at that time. Through this window, he explores the colonists’ worldviews. While the narrative does cover the roles played by those famous such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton, it also covers the views of average people such as sailors, escaped slaves, farmers, and fishermen. What stands out is the charming narrative and fluid prose. In the aftermath of Katrina and Ike, it does catch the contemporary American imagination.
Armchair Interviews says: Interesting relationship between storms and “being punished.”