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Colonial Propaganda: The Death of Jane McCrea
How American propaganda capitalized off a murky murder to win a revolution
As the beginning of the American Revolutionary War unfolded, it became clear that the American insurgents could not match the superior British army through sheer force. To keep the flame of the revolution alive, the patriots needed small victories to galvanize neutral colonists for support, but true military victories were difficult to attain with a sustained population of loyalists and agnostic colonists, and the increasingly totalitarian British response. Instead, the American revolutionaries benefited from triumphs that were psychological. This is the story of how superior propaganda and a tragedy led to a strengthened resistance among the colonists as well as perpetuated a continuous theme of racial antagonism.
The British Strategy
By the summer of 1777, colonial separatists were beginning to pose a significant headache to the British Empire. What would be known as the American Revolutionary War was entering its third year, and though patriot morale had increased by small victories in battles at Trenton and Princeton, overall support for the revolution was largely lukewarm with many Americans still uncommitted.
