![]() ![]() I utilised more than 250 soldiers’ diaries to examine the factors that influenced morale. Narratives of Continental Army soldiers have shaped the direction and outline of this thesis. ![]() Analysing the determinants of morale allows for a bottom-up approach to uncover what soldiers thought about their lived experiences. While previous scholarship focuses on perceptions of soldiers, ideologies of the Revolution, and combat demographics, this thesis focuses on the overlooked but deeply significant service of those entrenched in the conflict. However, soldiers modified these explanations and turned them into more tangible concepts, which sustained their service. Army leadership created a foundation for morale by educating soldiers on the conflict and their position in it. This thesis argues that morale is socially and culturally constructed and that common soldiers exhibited significant agency. Instead, it analyses the factors that sustained and inhibited morale and addresses why soldiers chose to continue fighting despite their extreme hardships. This thesis does not attempt to measure morale. It investigates the morale of enlisted, ordinary soldiers during the American Revolutionary War, from 1775 to 1783. This thesis provides the first examination of Continental Army morale. ![]()
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