FREE ESSAY ON REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THE BEGGINING OF THE NEW REPUBLIC

REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THE BEGGINING OF THE NEW REPUBLIC

My Understanding of the American Revolutionary War and 
The Beginnings of the New Republic
The American Revolution was inevitably going to occur, but was how the American Indians
treated really inevitable or just another sign of the colonists greed? Throughout the
American colonists stay in America they consistently had a hunger for land that was not
theirs and always wanted more land than they agreed to take in various agreements,
contracts and treaties. It seemed that there was no way that American Indians would be
able to appease the colonists. The colonists in general were greedy. Regardless of what
the subject matter, if the colonists felt they were being done an injustice they
retaliated and whined until they got their way.
Before the American Revolution occurred, England and the American colonists were able to
live and prosper peacefully without even considering a break for thirteen years prior to
the shot heard around the world. The idea of England and the colonists fighting was even
explained to the American Indians as a quarrel between father and son. It was a family
quarrel and most people from outside the family did not want to get involved in it. As
time went by the French and even the American Indians managed to choose sides to fight on
however. For the most part the colonists were just transplanted English men and women.
The colonists largely just wanted to be recognized in English politics or even just as
gentlemen. The American colonies were set up as English outposts and what happened within
these outposts modeled what occurred daily in England. In time however the colonists
would realize that England thought of the colonists as less than Englishmen. It seemed
that the colonists could never quite get "it" right, or do "it" well enough. Whatever
"it" was, was exactly what the colonists wanted and it annoyed the colonists that they
could never accomplish that task. For the most part those people trying to obtain this
goal of English status were those colonists in the upper class in colonial standings.
Even though America was seen as a place of opportunity it still held class separation.
Everyone was expected to know their place, the colonial gentlemen knew theirs, as did the
women and the working class, and the slaves were expected to learn their place among
society.
The primary purpose of these films is to inform. They are set up to give us the facts
from different parts of the same story. Liberty Part I is focused on what was occurring
in the colonies that contributed to the occurrence of the Revolution. Liberty Part II is
about what actually happened during the American Revolution. Africans in the Americas
focused on what was going in with Africans in the colonies at this time and how their
lives were being affected by the Revolution. The Revolution and the Iroquois Confederacy
was about the creation of the Iroquois confederacy and how it was pulled apart initially
by necessity during the French and Indian war and than by pressure from both the
Americans and than the English and eventually each other during the American Revolution.
This film discusses how the aforementioned happened and what happened to the confederacy
and its members as a result of being separated from their peaceful union of nations.
Washington; The Man Who Would Not Be King is focused on how Washington developed from a
man who wanted nothing more than to serve as an officer in the British army to one who
was able to make decisions that required sacrifice. Jefferson; A View from The Mountain
is about Thomas Jefferson, his background and what happened to him during the course of
the time period these films address. I do feel that the biggest point that this
particular film got across was that Jefferson was undergoing a huge personal struggle
about the concept of slavery. All of the subjects of these films tie together to inform
us of the true and complete story of what happened in the years preceding the
Revolutionary War and those that followed it during the creation of the United States of
America, the presidency, and the Constitution. The films let us know about various views
of the Revolution and allow us to tie the story together in a manner in which we can
understand what was going on in the minds of opposing parties of the war, but still allow
us to make our own realizations about what occurred at that time in history.
These films are almost entirely focused on the intellect. Listening to what is being said
is sometimes amazing to even hear. I found some of the information on Washington to be
particularly interesting because he was able to make so many mistakes and errors that
impacted a lot of people yet still continue and become a prominent figure in American
society. I believe that this is largely due to the fact that he became a man that was
able to learn from his mistakes and grow from the experience. However I understand why
the Indians call him "destroyer of towns." It is better than a variety of the names I
could have thought up if I was alive to witness how the Indians sacrificed their own
people to try and help him and his soldiers, especially during the winter he and his
troops spent at Valley Forge. One fact that I found particularly interesting is that the
Oneida's, the one nation that helped Washington and his men the most was treated the
worst after the war. Their entire nation, which had previously lived on 160 acres, was
now forced to live on 32 acres, a drastic decrease in land. In Liberty Part I and II it
is very clear that the intellect is being focused on because of the vast array of facts
being put in front of you. These films gave a very good introduction into those events
that led up to the Revolution as well as how the colonists and English had changes of
opinion regarding their feelings about the other. These films explain how the colonists
really never had any sense of nationalism until the first shots of revolt are fired. The
film does explain how the attitudes began to change and how some of the things the
English did actually contributed to the Americans ability to separate from their parent
country. The colonies were whiny children of an uncaring parent. Africans in the Americas
and The Revolution and the Iroquois Confederacy were probably the only films that focused
towards the emotions. These two films I believe touch more on what happens personally to
the Africans and to the Indians and gets more involved into how it effects them
personally. The Revolution and the Iroquois Confederacy explains how the Revolution
encouraging the Iroquois people to fight on both sides resulted in brother fighting
brother. The Iroquois people had begun to fight their own civil war without a cause to
try and help their neighbors. What really grabs your emotions however is the fact that
nothing was ever done to help the Indians, especially those that fought on the side of
the Americans. Instead of being thanked, they are ignored and exploited by those they had
helped. It seems to be that there is even less of a possibility of the American Indians
being able to coexist with the white man than there is of the colonists becoming English
gentlemen. In the Africans in the Americas film your emotions are touched by the history
being told as a personal account of one mans life and the ordeals he must overcome to
succeed in his goals due to the situation with which he was dealt. In between accounts of
what is going on in his particular life the film maker keeps the viewer informed of what
is going on in the rest of the world in relation to what is happening in this case
Venture's life. Washington; the Man Who not Be King and Jefferson; A View from the
Mountain were films that focused on the intellect, although I felt that the Jefferson
film reached a bit more towards the emotions than the Washington film. These two films
gave a lot of information about how Washington and Jefferson's individual lives fitted
into the war and how their views and opinions were changed by it. Jefferson's views
contained a conflicting bias. He had grown up in a family that supported the slave
business as a means of survival. He had felt trapped by it, but while living he could not
find a way to free his slaves without selling them or ruining his business.
As far as I am concerned, I do not really have any personal biases or opinions on this
subject because I really don't have a whole lot of English, French, American Indian or
even African American ancestors, if I do it is so small and so far back that it has not
effected the family views that were passed down to me. I understand that if the French
had won the French and Indian War I may have been speaking French now. I understand that
if the English had won the Revolutionary War I may have been living in a society that
bows to a king. I also understand that if at any point in history if the Indians had been
treated differently by any of America's initial visitors that I could have been speaking
a dialect of one of the American Indian Nations. There are many things, which could have
happened. I choose only to think about that which did occur and has helped to mold the
way in which I am part of life and see life everyday. Although I didn't really hold any
biases this question made me think. In my family tree it is traceable that I had some
members of my family come to America on the Mayflower thirteen generations before, and
they weren't from any of the major nations involved in the Revolution. I guess what hit
me is that at this point in time there are a variety of people in America from different
cultures. I am curious to know what was going on with the other cultures and how they
viewed the revolution. I find it hard to believe that those colonists, who were not
English, but lived in America really cared whether or not there was a break with England.
What makes this hard to believe is that if you take a group of people who are not loyal
to England, and than take over ownership of that land, but those people are still there,
to them what difference did it make who the next owners would be if it wasn't going to be
the country that they had come from. 
I did have some prior knowledge of this subject area. I don't feel that I knew as much
about this subject as some of the others we have discussed however I was familiar with
different aspects of it. The information that I had prior knowledge of was relatively
accurate. It wasn't always complete but what I had been taught was accurate. I was
familiar with Washington's background and how he had made a vast array of mistakes,
including many that resulted in military losses during the French and Indian War and The
American Revolution. I did not know about Washington fighting with Braddock and bravely
leading the British Army in retreat. I essentially had learned about many of the battles
Washington had fought in without really learning about what Washington was able to learn
and how he developed into a man and leader. I was unfamiliar with how deeply Washington
desired to gain a British commission, and I really didn't know why he had not been able
to achieve this. I had learned about the various reasons that the colonists and Britain
felt led to war, but I was relatively unaware of how this affected the American Indians
or the slaves and Africans. I knew about the whole idea that slaves were able to purchase
their freedom, and sometimes that of their family. What I hadn't previously understood
was how they saved the money to do this and how were they able to keep track of their
family. If I remember correctly from when we learned about this subject in high school, I
believe that there were some slaves that tried to purchase their families freedom and
found out that their family had changed hands and they didn't know whose hands they were
know in. There was a variety of information on the American Indians that I was rather
unfamiliar with as well. I did not know much about how the Africans or the American
Indians came to participate in either the French and Indian or Revolutionary War. I did
have a small base upon which to build regarding the American Indians involvement in the
French and Indian War. I recall learning that the War was essentially because of the fur
trade. I didn't realize that their were already Indians from other nations fighting on
the side of the French that encouraged the American Indians who were trying to maintain
their peaceful ways to go to war in order to defend themselves and their families. This
again however was the first time I really learned about how the Africans and the American
Indians came to participate in the wars and what had happened to them. Much of the
information about the various colonial statesman I had heard before, some of the
information I had learned previously was not as thorough or easy to understand as the
view that was presented regarding their various opinions of what was occurring and how
that would effect the future of the colonies. I think what made this information even
easier to understand was the concept of using their background and attitudes at the same
time as the explanation. In grade school when you learn about historical leaders, you
learn about their background and than what they did. By intertwining the two I was better
able to understand why the leaders felt certain ways about certain things much easier.
Another aspect that made films such as the Liberty series much easier to follow was the
whole idea of using people to dress up and historically recreate various people and
incidents that occurred. I believe that when information is presented it is much easier
to maintain that information that is presented in an interesting manner. By using the
reenactors to act out various battles, or explain a statesman's views in the first
person, it is much easier to grasp that which is being taught.
The material contained within these films is relevant to class discussions and our
readings because it helps to tie all the information together. I can read Brinkley's book
and get dry facts about the Revolution and don't tell the entire story. I can read Zinn's
book and get a view of what happened that Brinkley forgot to include. However by only
reading what happened it is still difficult to tie together all that happened in the
years surrounding 1776. The films and class discussions help to tie the readings together
so that it all makes sense.
I feel that the information contained in these films will always be useful in the
teaching and understanding of American history and more specifically the teaching of the
American Revolution. There were a number of different views presented on the Revolution
and it is important for future students to know the views of the people on all sides of
that war. I also feel that there are a lot of foreigners who do not know our version of
why the American Revolution occurred. I have a few friends who live on the other side of
the world and when speaking with them you forget that some of the things that occurred in
history we consider to be good, but they might not feel that way. I feel that by using
information such as that which we have viewed in these films where all the sides are
presented everyone will understand why the Revolution occurred and why people fought on
the sides that they did. It is my personal opinion that by getting accurate information
everyone will be able to understand what happened regardless of where you live or are
from. I believe that by educating people about the reasons for the various wars that
occurred in history we may be able to avoid some future war.
The following are questions that I have either as a result of viewing the film or
questions that were brought about by the film:
1) How did colonists not of English, African American, or American Indian decent feel
about the break with England?
2) What were the French hoping to gain if anything by helping the Americans near the end
of the war?
3) How many of the African Americans that fought on the side of the British died during
the course of the war in comparison with how many British died in the course of the war?
4) How many African Americans were actually able to escape slavery through fighting for
the British?
5) Throughout the course of the war many people questioned the concept of slavery,
however they did not abolish it all over. Did the number of slaves in the United States
increase after the war? And if so, why did it when so many people were already
questioning the institution?
6) Why did England think so poorly of the colonists? They were made up of those strong
and brave enough to make the journey across the ocean and create a life in a place they
had never been before.
7) Why was it important to speak French to be an officer in the British Army?
8) When Washington screws up and admits to dashing the French diplomats head, which is an
error of translation, it seems that this is something that will follow his career for a
number of years and not look good on his military record. How or why do the Americans not
remember this when they put him in charge of various American Army units and eventually
the entire forces? To me it seems that his previous record and actions should have had
some say in his placement.
9) What happened to those colonists that were caught in limbo and did not want to break
away from Britain when the war broke out?
10) If the American Indians had not helped to fight the war would they have been treated
as they have been, better, or worse?
11) Did the Indians know prior to entering the war on the side of the colonists that one
of the reasons for the war was the fact that England would not allow the colonists to
settle west of the Appalachian Mountains?