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Abstract

This paper examines the overlooked but decisive role of gunpowder in Virginia’s entry into the American Revolution, arguing that material scarcity helped to shape the colony’s revolutionary trajectory between 1775 and 1778. Beginning with the Gunpowder Incident in Williamsburg just days after Lexington and Concord, this paper argues that the contest for control over Virginia’s gunpowder supply irreparably damaged relations between Virginians and royal authority and marked the effective beginning of revolutionary conflict in the colony. Situating the incident within the broader imperial struggle for military resources, the paper highlights Britain’s mercantilist policies and the colonies’ dependence on imported gunpowder. As British officials sought to deny the colonies access to arms and ammunition, patriots were forced to confront a stark reality: without domestic production, resistance was unsustainable. At the heart of Virginia’s response was Charles Lynch of Bedford County, whose emergence as a gunpowder manufacturer transformed him from a regional political figure into a critical architect of Virginia’s war effort. Through local initiative, technical adaptation, and collaboration with revolutionary leaders such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, Lynch built from the ground up the largest and sole state-funded powder mill in Virginia. His work influenced both military outcomes and legislative action aimed at securing arms and ammunition. Though now entirely forgotten, Lynch’s efforts underscore and exemplify the thirteen colonies’ ingenuity and determination to procure the means for their defense from the plentiful resources of the New World.

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