The American Revolution depended not only on soldiers and statesmen — but on dockworkers.

Ports such as Boston, Philadelphia, New London, and Baltimore became logistical lifelines during the war. Longshoremen unloaded muskets, powder barrels, flour sacks, uniforms, and French military supplies. Shipwrights repaired privateers and Continental vessels damaged in Atlantic engagements. Ropewalk laborers twisted rigging lines that kept masts secure in heavy seas.

After France formally entered the war in 1778, transatlantic shipments increased dramatically. French gunpowder, cannon, uniforms, and naval matériel arrived through American ports — but only because civilian dock crews could move and distribute them efficiently.

British naval blockades and raids placed these waterfronts under constant threat. Fires, shortages of tar and timber, and manpower strain disrupted operations. Yet labor continued.

Dockyards also became centers of economic strain. Inflation, depreciated Continental currency, and irregular pay schedules affected civilian workers just as they affected soldiers. Maintaining steady port function required coordination between state authorities, merchants, and Continental agents.

Revolutionary success required more than battlefield victory — it required infrastructure capable of sustaining war over years.

Ships launched independence. Labor sustained it. …

Not all Revolutionary intelligence traveled by courier on horseback. Some of it hung quietly from a clothesline.

Anna Strong of Setauket, Long Island, is traditionally associated with the Culper Spy Ring — the intelligence network organized in 1778 under the direction of Major Benjamin Tallmadge to supply information to General George Washington in British-occupied New York.

Long Island was a heavily monitored zone. British forces controlled ports, roads, and major towns. Communication required subtlety.

According to post-war accounts and later family tradition, Anna used her laundry line to signal the presence and location of fellow agent Caleb Brewster, who ferried dispatches across Long Island Sound to Connecticut. A black petticoat indicated Brewster had arrived safely. Specific arrangements of handkerchiefs identified which cove he was using for pickup.

Whether every detail can be independently verified, historians agree that the Culper Ring relied heavily on civilian cooperation, coded signals, and compartmentalized knowledge to avoid exposure. Intelligence passed through ordinary homes, farms, and shorelines — not only through military headquarters.

Anna Strong’s story reflects a broader truth: Revolutionary intelligence depended on trusted local networks. Civilian households became strategic nodes in a war fought as much by secrecy as by musket fire.

Liberty required vigilance — and often, invisibility. …

The American Revolution was not a local rebellion—it was a global war.

The fight for independence did not unfold in isolation along the eastern seaboard. It stretched across frontiers, waterways, and oceans—drawing Native nations, European empires, and global trade networks into the conflict.

Throughout April, our daily series explores how the Revolution extended far beyond Lexington and Yorktown. From the Ohio Valley to the Caribbean, from contested Indigenous homelands to British-occupied ports, this was a war shaped by geography, diplomacy, and empire.

Each week, we examine:

• Frontier conflict and Native alliances across the western territories
• British imperial strategy and the global expansion of the war after 1778
• Spanish and French operations in Gulf Coast and Atlantic theaters
• Naval warfare, privateering, and control of transatlantic trade
• Loyalist and imperial perspectives often overlooked in traditional narratives

The Revolution reshaped more than thirteen colonies.
It tested Indigenous sovereignty, redirected European diplomacy, strained imperial finance, and ignited conflict across continents.

This month, we move beyond the familiar story to explore the Revolution as it was experienced on the edges—and across the world.

Liberty was contested locally.
Empire was contested globally.

Follow along daily as we bring the global Revolution to life—one story at a time.

Learn more about preserving Revolutionary history and civic education:
👉 https://sar.org …