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Subject: [VACARROL] TORY SYMPATHIZERS
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:12:13 EST


Enjoyed Mr. Roberts comments re. the Revolutionary War. Most people are not
aware that the majority of the citizens were not for the revolutions. I have
read there were about 30% fervently in favor of the Revolution. Except for
Benjamin Franklin, the leaders of the Revolution, such as Thomas Jefferson,
were less than thirty years old.
In researching her Irish roots, my wife found that a majority of the
troops at Valley Forge were Irish. They had a visceral hatred of England and
the Crown. See Irish history. They would have stood on hot coals to get even
with the British.
The first time that I ever heard that the majority of the colonists were
not in favor of the Revolution, I thought the teacher was lying and was a
traitor. LOL. This was my junior year in high school. In writing and
researching while at William and Mary, I found that she had been telling the
truth.
Everything considered, I am often amazed that we won the war. Washington
is trully the father of this country as he kept an army in the field when any
lesser man would have made a deal with the British and gone home. The
British were trying to collect some taxes to help defray the cost of the
French and Indian War which had gone on for seven years at great cost to the
English. The amount they were trying to collect was neglible compared to what
they had spent in that war. We didnt even want to pay that.
Before someone calls me an Anglofile, I had ancestors in that war, and in
retrospect, it was one of the best things to happen to this country. Had I
lived at the time, I would have most likely been a Tory or neutral and
thought the revolutionaries belonged in jail as rebelious youth.
For some more disurbing news of this period, read Charles A. Beard's
ECONOMIC INTREPATATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.
It is a real eye opener.
It is an interesting period and some of the ethics were about as
outstanding as what we see in Washington today.
Thomas W. Horton

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