I was here a couple of years ago. The North Bridge in Concord, Mass. The birth of a nation right where I was standing.
When I attended the Appleseed shoot, they recommended reading the book Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer. Since my curiosity was aroused and it was in the school library and it didn't violate my self-imposed 500 page limit on any book that I read, I read it. It's a well written account of the events leading up to the famous ride of Paul Revere and the immediate after effects that precipitated the Revolutionary War.
I've been interested in Paul Revere as a craftsman having seen some of his silver work, but was fairly ignorant of his role in bringing about our independence from England. Paul was a major player in the events leading up to April 19, 1775 when the British marched on Concord and Lexington. In addition to his silversmithing, he also was an accomplished engraver. In fact, the Library of Congress traveling exhibit had a copy of one of his engravings in it.
The events leading up to the Revolutionary War seem to be happening to some extent again in this country. The emergence of the Tea Party in the last election had to be prompted by something, right? Depending on your point of view, there are lots of attacks on your personal freedoms going on. People wanting to take away firearms and if they can't do that then outlaw all lead ammunition. Force you to buy health insurance or else. Tax the poor and give to the rich - oh wait, that's Robin Hood. Here we tax the middle class and give it to the poor corporations who are too big to fail. Any way you look at it, there are parallels that can be drawn.
In addition to detailing the events of Revere's ride, the book also sums up what happened to the major players in the story later in life but I need to find another good book to pick up where this one left off. It's a shame that in all the twelve years you spend in public education, so little of that time is spent on history. The founders of our country were true patriots. Their vision and sacrifices should not be forgotten.
2 comments:
Good post, Bro.
There's a reason they don't & haven't taught that sort of history in schools.
Next time a kid leaves his history book in my class, I'm going to see exactly what they're teaching these days - been lots of changes in textbooks the last few years. Maybe Patriots' Day should be a school holiday and rather than getting the day off, everybody does something related to 4/19/1775. I could do a little silversmithing. Kind of a school wide reenactment. Maybe a little skirmish out front along the highway with some smoke belching muskets. I'll suggest that at the next faculty meeting. Should be good for a chuckle.
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