The American Revolution

The American revolution was one of the most fascinating events in all of history. Ever since I was in 6th grade, I was fascinated by it. At the time, I was into cloak and dagger stuff – the cold war was in full swing, and I dreamed of outsmarting Russians like James Bond did – and so I did a report on spies in the American revolution. I had no idea how big a role skulduggery played in the war of independence until I actually looked into it myself. Counter-espionage was not very sophisticated at the time, so both sides made extensive use of intelligence to gain information on troop movements, enemy supplies, popular support, and all other manner of important information.

The American war for independence was about way more than troop movements, behind the scenes spying, speeches, and strategy, however. It was about an ideal – or rather, several. The way the American revolution is taught in schools is a little bit incomplete. They simplify American revolutionary thought to the famous statements of the founding fathers, but there was so much more to it. The founding fathers wanted votes for rich, property owning white men, but some of the rank and file had more radical ideals. Many of the troops who fought in the American revolution dreamed of a world of complete equality, where everyone had enough to eat, and equal rights under the law. The fact that the America we built has more in common with the dreams of the founding fathers than those of the troops should not diminish the importance of their vision as well.

As a matter of fact, the more I read about the American revolution, the more fascinating the subject becomes. It has always amazed me that such issues as taxation without representation were enough to inspire people to lay down their lives in an all out war with their own country. With the French revolution, the industrial revolution, and the war for independence all happening in the same era, the world was undergoing one of the most far-reaching shakeups that it had ever been through. I feel like we are not given the whole story in schools – that there was much more to it than simple complaints about British economic policies towards the colonies. I don't quite understand the whole thing yet, but with every American history book I learn, I feel like I get a little bit closer.