Revolutionary Tales

This week we are talking revolution. The American revolution to be specific.

Countless books have been written on the subject, some fair and some... let's call them enthusiastically patriotic and leave it at that.

But today I want to talk about some of the myths and misconceptions that surround this conflict. Naturally with any subject this expansive, not to mention chronologically distant, it's hard to be certain exactly what went on.

We do however know quite a lot, and there are several myths that are just that, myths and legends. On the flip side, there are things no one really talks that much about. Finally, before we begin, I want to point out that I couldn't even begin to link sources here. That's beyond the scope of my humble little blog. If you are interested, do your own research, but keep a critical mind. After all, history is written by the winners and to the victors go the spoils.

The colonists were scrappy undermanned underdogs.

OK, first off let's point out that there were about 2.5 million colonists at the time. When the war broke out, about a third stayed right out of it, just under a third remained loyal to the king and the rest were revolutionaries. Naturally many were women, children and the elderly but that leaves about a quarter of a million troops on the colonial side against the 40.000 troops Britain could scrape together. Those are odds of six to one. Some sources claim that only 100.000 colonists fought the British, but those odds are still 2.5 to 1.

Now let's add in the French. France was spoiling for a fight with England and took every opportunity to harass them at sea, making resupplying the British army difficult. The French also supplied the colonists with tons of clothes, cannons, food and 90% of all their gunpowder.

Now who's the underdog here? I'm not so sure it's the colonists anymore.

The Boston Massacre.

Many sources claim the massacre of Bostonians at the hand of redcoat guards as one of the events that caused the colonial kettle to boil over. But there are some interesting facts here. First off, the crowd was goaded by secessionists into attacking the guards, first with taunts, and then with thrown rocks and ice. Finally one guard fired his musket which caused the rest to discharge theirs. When the smoke cleared, three locals were dead. That's all. Three guys. Some massacre... Eventually the guards were found not guilty in court, when their attorney John Adams pointed out that shooting people who physically assault them was in fact their job. And that's the John Adams, founding father and 2^nd president of the U.S.A.

Taxes, the French-Indian war and the Tea Party.

The whole “No taxation without representation” line is famous today. But there is some evidence that although the colonists were supposed to pay taxes to George III, those taxes were rarely ever collected.

Now, to the west of the original colonies lay a vast and open land, and many wanted to settle there. Unfortunately, much of that land was owned by France which led to violent border disputes. Fault on both sides and all that. Either way, this led to the French-Indian War, a.k.a. The Seven Years war. It was hugely expensive for the British, and to recoup some of the money, they levied the infamous tax on tea. They were adamant that the colonialists pay for some of the war costs, since they had directly benefited from the protection afforded them by the British Army. As we all know, the colonialists refused to pay, and dumped the tea into the sea.

So it seems that the cruel tyranny of the Crown was a bit overblown.

Paul Revere and Ben Franklin.

The story of how Paul Revere rode all night shouting “The British are coming, the British are coming” is a familiar one. It's mostly held up as an example that one man can make a difference, but it has been exaggerated quite a bit over the years. It seems he did indeed ride out, but mainly to warn Adams and Hancock, and to alert other messengers who in turn spread the word. Then he simply went home. Since his mission depended on stealth, shouting would be a very foolish thing to do. And Revere was not a fool. In fact he was a cunning silversmith, engraver and dentist.

Concerning Ben Franklin, we're not going to talk about lightning, kites or bifocals. I'm interested in his role as Colonial Ambassador to King George III. Franklin did oppose the Stamp Act 1765, but apart from that, he apparently failed to in any way make the British King and his government understand that the colonists were unhappy. Instead he was far more keen to attend parties, even going so far as to carouse the night away with the Monks of Medmenham Abbey, better known as The Hellfire Club. These guys who were synonymous with debauchery, hedonism and vice. Now, I'm not moralizing here, I enjoy a good time as much as anyone, but Franklin had a job to do, and at best he half assed it.

That's all we have space for this week. If you are interested, there's tons of information out there. Go forth and study, and I shall see you next time. Have a great week!