OT: Roots Of The Revolution

[AmBraCol]

In light of the close proximity of the celebration of the Battle of Concord, what online resources would you recommend if one were desirous of preparing an English Conversation Club around the theme "Roots Of The Revolution"? One hour will be devoted to the subject. Or perhaps I'll adapt it to something more like "True Freedom" and incorporate the Resurrection theme in it as well. Need to make up my mind over the next day or so...

[JustaJeepGuy]

The roots of the Revolution go WAAAAY back. It would be extremely difficult to hold it to one hour.

[AmBraCol]

The roots of the Revolution go WAAAAY back. It would be extremely difficult to hold it to one hour.

I know, I know... and I've got some resources already - just curious what folks might come up with. Me? I'm always willing to learn something new or take a look at things from another angle. Mainly I'm looking for stuff to stimulate conversation amongst folks who know next to nothing about US history. And no, I'm not talking about the current crop of US college grads...

[Griff]

Paul,
IMHO, the roots of the Revolution lie in colonial taxation. I am sure there are some on-line references to the various Acts by King George and the British Parliment that imposed taxes on the colonies.

[Rusty]

I'm not sure but the way things have been going here lately you might try just scanning CNN from time to time.

I've heard the term "armed insurrection" come up three times in the last two weeks when talking about the upcoming tax protests.

[Blaine]

A point, by point discussion of the items in the Declaration of Independence, and comparing them to actions happening today is a good exercise.

[Tycer]

For $20 you can download the Audiobook John Adams by David McCullough on iTunes. Worth every penny. Truly.
The insight into their world at the beginning of the revolution is absolutely astounding. McCullough is a master at telling the stories of history accurately.

The HBO series adapted from the book with Tom Hanks as Executive Producer is good also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeHepBjA ... re=channel

[C. Cash]

About 6-8 months ago, The American Rifleman had a really good piece on what was going during that time frame of the Lexington and Concord battles. It really hit me like a ton of bricks. Those British troops were on their way to capture the arms of private citizens so they could not oppose the crown...thats why they were marching to Lexington and Concord...to get their rifles, powder and shot. In Boston the general populace had to turn in their arms. It was major gun control going on, and the comparisons to modern times are chilling. Nothing new under the sun as they say and perhaps the most important point to drive home if we want to keep all of our Freedoms.

Taxation without representation was a major driving force for sure, but I also wonder if religious freedom was not also a huge point, now mostly overlooked, with these Early Americans(ie Christians in America not wanting the Church of England dictating how or where they were to worship). I'm sure that there was that fear as well....that British rule would also mean that the Colonist would eventually have to be apart of the Church of England and all the politics and corruption that would bring, and persecution for not following along. That would explain why the Constitution explicitly spells out religious freedom once victory had been achieved. Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck Paul..sounds very interesting.

[GonnePhishin]

I concur with Griff, in looking at the colonial taxation without representation and in particular the stamp act.
One must not also forget that not all the colonists were for independence since many people supported mother England.

[Rusty]

Quite a few years ago before PC became the rule of the land I was visiting Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. At the main visitor's center they have or had a movie to watch staring a very young Jack Lord as Patrick Henry. One of the things that came out in the movie was that there were actually a small percentage of the population of the colonies at the time that were in favor of independence. While they did not like taxation without representation what they really wanted was to remain British subjects but to be able to send representatives to Parliament.

Another account that I read also said that when the British marched on Lexington and Concord they had been negotiating with the colonists for some time and while the colonists would be able to keep some of the powder they had they would have to surrender the cannon. If memory serves me which it often does not I seem to remember them being able to keep 200 lbs of powder. The rest would have to be turned in. The Sons of Liberty were against any taking of any kind of arms under any circumstances.
Someone else might be able to refine this a bit more.

[AmBraCol]

Another account that I read also said that when the British marched on Lexington and Concord they had been negotiating with the colonists for some time and while the colonists would be able to keep some of the powder they had they would have to surrender the cannon. If memory serves me which it often does not I seem to remember them being able to keep 200 lbs of powder. The rest would have to be turned in. The Sons of Liberty were against any taking of any kind of arms under any circumstances.
Someone else might be able to refine this a bit more.

Kind of like today, 'eh? "Give us those ugly black guns and we'll let you keep your deer rifle." Some folks are in favor of doing so. And then there are the rest of us. The longer I live the more I distrust professional politicians. Corruption runs through their very soul it would seem.

[JustaJeepGuy]

One frequently overlooked issue is that the Crown needed to pay for what is known in the USA as the "French and Indian War". The Crown felt that the Colonies should be taxed to pay, as the Colonists were the main beneficiaries of the British victory. The Colonists were not going to go along with the idea without being considered full citizens. A divergence of views, for sure...