The Podcast Patriot

When I worked in Navy recruiting, I met many teenagers. Dealing with my daughter’s school and soccer teams, I talk with a lot of small kids. Now that I am a civilian, I deal with a lot of kids who have a college diploma. What do they all have in common? They know nothing of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.

I did a personal survey and nearly 93% of every one (of all ages) I asked thought that the Fourth of July was our countries birthday. It was the day in which we became a country with a Constitution, Congress and President. Of course, all of the 15 kids I asked (under the age of 16) didn’t know there were three branches of government.

When I was a kid, we not only had (at least a School House Rock) overview of the Revolutionary War, we were subjected to endless plays and reports on the subject. Our parents, who had a much more comprehensive education in history and civics, took time to explain the 4/11 on this whole Independence Day event. Well, we must not have listened, because we aren’t passing that knowledge down to our kids.

Why is this important? Because people who fail to learn why was are who we are stop questioning and caring why we do what we do. There is a large portion of America that feels that we have ALWAYS been a superpower. There is a large portion of the military that thinks that our government has ALWAYS supported our military.

 

Fact: Until World War I, most of the world treated our political and military influence on the level we treat Mexico now.

 

Fact: Until World War II, most of the world treated our political and military influence on the level that we treat Canada now.

 

Fact: At the start of World War I, we had a military that was still using horse cavalry while Europe was using tanks. Our rifles were outdated. We had not considered a need for a strong military since we were protected by two oceans, a friendly Canada, and low-threat Mexico.

 

Fact: After World War I, the new modern military that we had built, was all but disbanded.

 

Mark Twain once said “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme a lot.”

We need to understand our history to respect those who sacrificed for our freedom, and to learn the lessons from their successes and mistakes.

 

So—here is a Cliff’s notes version of the Revolution

 

Events leading up to the War
The French and Indian War (1754-63)
The Sugar Act (4/5/1764)
The Stamp Act (3/22/1765)
Patrick Henry’s “If This Be Treason” speech (5/29/1765)
The Stamp Act Congress (10/7-25/1765)
The Boston Massacre (3/5/1770)
The Boston Tea Party (12/16/1773)
The First Continental Congress (Philadelphia, 9/5-10/26/1774)

 

1775: The War Begins
The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes (4/18)
The Battles of Lexington and Concord (4/19)
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Seize Fort Ticonderoga (5/10)
The Second Continental Congress (met in Philadelphia, 5/10)
Washington named Commander in Chief (6/15)
Battle of Bunker Hill (fought on Breed’s Hill) (6/17)
Montgomery captures Montreal for Americans (11/13)
Benedict Arnold’s failed attack on Quebec (12/30)

 

1776: The Year of Independence
Paine’s “Common Sense” published (1/15)
Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas (3/3)
The British evacuate Boston (3/17)
Richard Henry Lee proposes Independence (6/7)
Patriots decisively defeat the British Navy at Fort Moultrie, SC (6/28)
Declaration of Independence adopted (7/4)
Declaration of Independence signed (8/2)
Arrival of 30,000 British troops in New York harbor
British win the Battle of Long Island (Battle of Brooklyn) (8/27-30)
British occupy New York City (9/15)
Benedict Arnold defeated at Lake Champlain (10/11)
Washington Crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton (12/26)

 

General George Washington fought the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1782, when the British finally sign Article of Peace November 30, 1782. Even then, the Congress didn’t ratify the treaty until April of 1783. 

The U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787, eleven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. George Washington was not elected president of the United States until 1789. 

The Revolutionary War lasted from its first rumblings in 1764 until its official ratification of a peace treaty in 1783. That is nearly two decades of conflict! How many Americans do you believe realizes that? How many Americans think that the Revolution lasted 1 year? 2 years? 3 years long?

 

I suspect that, as long as Hollywood is acting as our history teacher that most young Americans think that the Revolutionary War lasted slightly longer than Desert Storm. 

Some fun “Schoolhouse Rock” history.

 

 

 

 

A serious quick overview of “why we fought” the Revolutionary War.