The Revolutionary War Assignment
What is the traditional story of this era?
The traditional story of the Revolutionary War era is that it was a glorious chronicle of American colonialists fighting against the tyrannical rule of the British Empire. It is depicted as a period of insurrection when some sections of America revolted against the British rule while seeking independence. To be more precise, residents 13 British colonies in North America had been subtly expressing their dissatisfaction through skirmishes and the Revolutionary War when a full war started. These skirmishes eroded imperial authority in some areas of North America, and successfully blocked efforts to reassert imperial authority. At this point, all semblances of cordiality were withdrawn between the colonialists and British authorities, with the Americans who sought independence acting with the help of the French to proceed with a full-scale armed campaign (Revolutionary War, par. 1-3). Overall, the traditional story of this era is that it was the birth of USA as a nation, when colonialists preferred death to continued British imperial rule. The Revolutionary War Assignment
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How does the picture of our “founding fathers” painted by Zinn, Loewen, Brands and Lepore differ from the stories we often learn in history courses?
The stories that we have often heard about the history of the United States have focused on romanticizing the fight for independence by the ‘founding fathers’ who sought to create an equal society. They present the revolution as a gradual process in which the American people identified shortcomings in the British imperial rule and sought independence after self-actualization that equality was an inherent right of every person. However, there are authors who present a contrary opinion. In fact, Howard Zinn explains that this was basically a fight for political power, profits and land between the wealthy American colonialists and the British Empire. He further adds that the American political and social elites simply used propaganda to convince the other Americans to join the war, applying soft tactics initially, and resorting to coercion later on. These are indications that the publicized purpose for the idealized revolution to achieve equality for all Americans were lies, and that the true reason was to allow the American social and political elites an opportunity to create a legal nation that would legitimize their control over the political power, profits and land in America without interference from the British authorities (Zinn, par. 1-4). The Revolutionary War Assignment
Indeed, after completing the assignments over the War for Independence and the creation of the constitution, what do you believe this era was truly about?
The War of Independence was all about advancing the selfish interest of the American political and social elites. Prior to the war, these elites did not have much control over America. In fact, they were figure heads who served at the whims of the British authorities. The war offered them an opportunity to wrestle control of America’s political power, profits and land away from the British Empire. Having determined that they were small in number and unable to fight a winning war against the British authorities unless they recruited more Americans, they intelligently began propaganda that it was necessary to expel British authority from America to create an ideal society where every person was equal under democratic rule. Their hypocrisy become clear after gaining independence when existing inequalities were allowed to continue, such as denying women equal rights to their male counterparts.
What does Zinn argue the ultimate causes of the war and the drafting of the constitution to be?
Zinn (par. 1-4) argues that the ultimate cause of the war was manipulations by American social and political elite to expel British authority from America and legitimize their control over political power, profits and land in America. Drafting the constitution after the war allowed these elite to maintain their control over America, using clever legal language to create the illusion that they created an equal society and yet it was sharply tilted in their favor as political and social elites. Edmund Morgan verbalizes these sentiments when noting that the inequalities that existed before the war remained after the war although they become obscured (Zinn, par. 37). Overall, the war was a struggle for office and power between members of the upper class pitting the new (American social and political elite) against the old (British authorities).
Do you agree with him? Why or why not?
I agree with Zinn’s sentiments. That is because America’s history after the war presents some ugly truths about social injustices that continue to this day. The reality is that social equality was not achieved then and is yet to be achieved. Case in point, the Blacks were denied basic rights and forced to live under oppressive laws that particularly targeted them for oppression by the Whites. In addition, women were denied the right to have a say in governance and property. In fact, it is only in the last 100 years that there have been significant changes to addresses some of these social inequalities. The truth is that the Revolutionary War was intended to enable American social and political elite to displace the British imperialists while gaining legitimate control over America. The Revolutionary War Assignment
And what are the far-reaching consequences for us today of the continuing mythologies surrounding this time and how they are canonized in the popular mind?
The continuing mythologies and romanticized stories that surround the Revolutionary war make us blind to the reality of the injustices that occurred at the time. Canonizing these stories go a long way in immortalizing the illusion that the founding fathers were selfless, and had our best interests (as Americans) at heart. Through continuing these mythologies, we endorse the unfair decisions they made at the time and continue supporting a flawed system that is responsible for legitimizing the detrimental social injustices, such as laws that displaced Native American tribes (The consequences of the American Revolution, par. 1-2). We must objectively look at history and learn from the mistakes made in the past in order to gain the wisdom and will to make the desired changes.
Works cited
Revolutionary War. The History Channel at A&E Television Networks, 2019, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2019.
The consequences of the American Revolution. Limen Learning, n.d., https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory1ay/chapter/the-consequences-of-the-american-revolution/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2019.
Zinn, Howard. Chapter 5: A kind of Revolution. History is a Weapon, n.d., http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinnkin5.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2019.
The Revolutionary War Assignment