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Archiver > BROWN > 2000-07 > 0963990320


From: Jeree Anderson <>
Subject: [BROWN] [Fwd: Another opinion - The American Revolution]
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 00:05:20 -0700



This may explain how some of our ancestors ended up in Canada rather
than America..
>
> Forgotten History - Tuesday, June 6, 2000
> "Little known facts and overlooked history"
>
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> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>
> The American Revolution
>
> Of all the myths that surround the American Revolution,
> perhaps the most preposterous is the notion the war was
> fought by Americans seeking self-determination against a
> foreign power. Nothing could be further from the truth.
> The American Revolution pitted American against American.
>
> In some cases, as in the case of Benjamin Franklin,
> family
> member fought against family member. In fact, an equal
> number of people fought for the British as opposed them.
> This included slaves who fought for the British because
> they were promised their freedom.
>
> Another myth holds that the minutemen were loyal
> Americans
> who left their farms and business when their country
> needed
> their help. This again is false. The average minuteman
> was
> poor and not middle class. He often joined the army in
> hopes
> that he would be able to improve his economic plight.
>
> What happened to the Americans who fought for the
> British?
> They were dealt with harshly. Countless loyalists were
> tarred and feathered and forced to turn over millions in
> property. This was a war where one elite fought the
> other.
>
> Over 80,000 were driven to Canada and their property was
> confiscated. Many spent their remaining days in poverty.
> In fact, the American Revolution produced more emigres
> than
> the French Revolution. Slaves who opposed the revolution
> were returned to their slave masters.
>
> Equally distressful are the myths about the virtues of
> the
> Revolutionary leaders. While every child is told about
> John
> Paul Jones's declaration, "I have not yet begun to
> fight,"
> few are reminded that he became a well-paid mercenary of
> the
> Russian queen Catherine the Great. Or that Robert Morris,
>
> who financed much of the revolution, used his position to
>
> enrich himself.
>
> Probably the most over-rated hero is Ethan Allen. Allen's
>
> claim to fame comes from his daring raid on Fort
> Ticonderoga,
> but his financial dealings are overlooked. Allen opened
> secret negations with the British in hopes of gaining
> recognition for over a quarter of a millions acres of
> disputed Vermont land. At one point he promised to take
> Vermont out of the war but the British would not go
> through
> with the deal and Allen's plan fell through.
>
> Revolutionary heroes also fell far short in their deeds,
> compared with their eloquent words. Patrick Henry is
> remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me
> death."
> Apparently this quest for liberty did not include slaves.
>
> Henry fought as passionately for slavery as he did
> independence. All throughout the revolution he added
> slaves
> to his plantation and after the war, unlike many of his
> contemporaries including Washington, never freed any of
> them. After several business failures, he grew wealthy
> off
> the work of his slaves.
>
> Misconceptions persist not only about who fought the war
> but
> what kind of war it was. This was a classic European
> style
> war, not a guerrilla war. This was not England's Vietnam.
>
> In the end America was able to overcome the British
> because
> of French help and the improvement of their standing
> army.
>
> Every child is taught that the minuteman was a great
> shot.
> The evidence is to the contrary. At Concord and Lexington
>
> one soldier commented "not one American in ten hit a
> redcoat
> that day." Which was hardly surprising since the farmers
> were used to using buckshot. Who won the revolution? Poor
>
> farmers who were later betrayed by the Centennial
> Congress,
> but that's another story.
>
>
>

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