The Fog of History

     The average person tends to view history in rather clear cut views. We generally accept the history when we are taught through our teachers from grade school through college. For example, most Americans know of the simplistic view of the American Revolution, in that the Founding Fathers such as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, etc were the ones who started, fought, and won the Revolution. Furthermore, the general belief that the people who fought for the revolution where rich, white, Anglo-Saxon farmers. However, the American Revolution was fought by people of all classes, sexes, and races. For example, Margaret Corbin was a woman who fought in the American Revolution. She fought along side her husband in defending Fort Washington. Corbin went so far as to firing a cannon in the middle of a battle in order to defend the fort. After her death in 1800, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) made a mural to remember the Margaret Corbin for her heroics in the American Revolutionary War. Another example is the penniless Ezekiel Brown. In the book, The Unknown American Revolution by Gary Nash, Nash described Brown as “ ‘ With little or nothing to lose,’ as he (brown) later related, joined up. Landless before the Revolution, a foot soldier in the army of ‘Strolling Poor’. Half of the sixteen men who signed up from Concord in the first five years of the war were much like Ezekiel Brown.” ( Nash,  218). A lot of the minute men were not always rich, white men. Much of these men were of different nature stateless drifting from town to town with no real purpose until the Revolution came along. While the white colonist wanted to protect their independence from oppression from Great Britain, others wanted to gain their freedom by proving themselves in battle. Salem Poor is another example. Poor was a slave who joined the Continental Army Army with his master in the hopes of earning his freedom(Nash, 225). Poor earned an impressive record of battle. He fought in such battles as Bunker Hill and White Plains. After the war, his comrades fought to grant Poor his freedom which he received. He savored his last days as a free farming man(Nash, 225). We often admire the people who do such great things in life and in history, but some of the greatest stories and tales are the ones that are not told. The American Revolution did not just involve the white or the rich . It was a Revolution that consisted of many a people of varied backgrounds who wanted a dream of freedom from oppression, freedom from fear, and the freedom to decide their own fate in this New World.

Work Cited

Nash, B Gary. The Unknown American Revolution. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.

     Profile of Margaret Corbin. Find a Grave. 7 Sept. 2010

         <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=231>

Vocabulary Words

Heroics

–adjective



suitable to the character of a hero in size or concept; daring; noble: a heroic ambition.



having or displaying the character or attributes of a hero; extraordinarily bold, altruistic, determined, etc.: a heroic explorer.



having or involving recourse to boldness, daring, or extreme measures: Heroic measures were taken to save his life.



Simplistic

–adjective

characterized by extreme simplism; oversimplified: a simplistic notion of good and bad.